2008 Bavarian state election


The 2008 Bavarian state election was held on 28 September 2008 to elect the members of the Landtag of Bavaria. The result was a historic defeat for the Christian Social Union, which had governed with a majority uninterrupted since 1962, and had won over 60% of the vote in the 2003 election. Despite polling suggesting that the party would retain its majority with losses, it suffered a 17% swing and came up two seats short of a majority, its worst result since 1954. Minister-President and CSU leader Günther Beckstein subsequently resigned from both posts, and the Landtag elected Horst Seehofer as his successor after the CSU and Free Democratic Party came to a coalition agreement.
The Free Voters of Bavaria entered the Landtag for the first time with 10% of the vote; the FDP also won seats for the first time in 14 years. The Left competed in its first Bavarian election, recording a modest result of 4.3%, but failing to win any seats.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 15th Landtag of Bavaria.

Opinion polling

Election result

Summary of the 28 September 2008 election results for the Landtag of Bavaria
! colspan="2" | Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
! Seats %
! colspan=8|
! align=right colspan=2| Total
! align=right| 10,612,275
! align=right| 100.0
! align=right|
! align=right| 187
! align=right| 7
! align=right|
! align=right colspan=2| Voter turnout
! align=right|
! align=right| 58.1
! align=right| 1.0
! align=right|
! align=right|
! align=right|