2020 Hamburg state election


The 2020 Hamburg state election was held on 23 February 2020 to elect the members of the 22nd Hamburg Parliament. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party and The Greens led by First Mayor Peter Tschentscher. The election was marked by a decline for the SPD and right-of-centre parties, while The Greens doubled their vote share and number of seats, becoming the second largest party. The Christian Democratic Union suffered their worst ever result in Hamburg and their worst state election result in 68 years. The Left achieved a small upswing. Alternative for Germany declined in vote share and seat count compared to a previous election for the first time in its history. The Free Democratic Party fell narrowly short of the 5% electoral threshold to win proportional seats, in total winning only one seat from a direct mandate.
After the election, the SPD renewed its coalition with the Greens. Peter Tschentscher was re-elected Mayor on 10 June.

Issues and campaign

Federal

The Hamburg state election was overshadowed by the Thuringia government crisis, the resignation of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as federal CDU leader, and a terrorist attack targeting immigrants in Hanau which took place four days before the election.

Local

In the wake of the Thuringia government crisis, approximately 20% of the FDP's election posters in Hamburg were defaced or destroyed. Greens leader Katharina Fegebank stated that such actions "harmed democracy".

Electoral system

The elections were conducted under a list proportional system in the same manner as the prior election. 71 seats were awarded directly in the 17 multi-mandate constituencies via open constituency lists, and the remaining 50 via at-large open :de:Landesliste|state lists based on percentage of the overall vote with a 5% electoral threshold.
Each voter had a total of ten votes: five constituency votes for the direct candidates in the constituency, and five at-large votes for candidates on the state lists. The five votes could be amassed all on one person, party, or list or could be distributed/split between different candidates, parties, or lists as desired. Voting privileges were passively awarded, meaning anyone over the age of 18 meeting eligibility requirements was automatically enrolled.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 21st Hamburg Parliament.

Opinion polling

Polling firmFieldwork dateSample
size		SPDCDUGrüneLinkeFDPAfDOthersLead
Polling firmFieldwork dateSample
size		OthersLead
23 Feb 2020–39.211.224.29.14.95.36.115.0
19–20 Feb 20201,1843912248.5565.515
12–17 Feb 20201,006381323857615
2 Jan–14 Feb 20201,00434123276552
11–13 Feb 20201,12837132584.575.512
10–12 Feb 20201,003381423856615
30 Jan–4 Feb 20201,00034142785757
24–29 Jan 2020672331424107759
16–21 Jan 20201,00232162786745
2–7 Jan 20201,0002915299774Tie
18 Dec 2019–2 Jan 20201,009291626107753
27–31 Dec 2019678321323138849
22 Nov–20 Dec 20192,04130.413.624.113.77.47.53.36.3
11–16 Dec 20191,004281726116752
5–10 Nov 2019652321323127849
23 Oct–4 Nov 20191,020251726128841
6–11 Sep 201961828142811694Tie
2019 European election26 May 2019–19.817.731.27.05.66.512.211.4
6–16 May 20191,0023016221191028
6 Jan–2 Mar 20191,06935152996436
18–21 Feb 20191,005311722108849
27 Dec 2018–3 Jan 20191,004301424119756
19 Mar–4 Apr 20181,0013616181277418
23 Feb–2 Mar 20181,0252822151481036
2017 federal election24 Sep 2017–23.527.213.912.210.87.84.53.7
8 Sep–17 Nov 20161,004481816854230
31 Mar–5 Apr 20161,0003918151168321
14–18 Jan 201675937141310813523
2015 state election15 Feb 2015–45.615.912.38.57.46.14.229.7

Election result

At one polling booth in Langenhorn, the results for the FDP and Greens were accidentally reversed, meaning the preliminary results placed the FDP only 121 votes above the threshold. The mistake was corrected in the official count which took place over 24 hours later. Exit polls suggested that AfD would miss the threshold while FDP would exceed it, leading to early press reports of an AfD defeat and exclusion of its politicians from post-election debates.
Summary of the 23 February 2020 election results for the Hamburg Parliament
! colspan="2" | Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-pp
! Seats
! +/-
! Seats %
! colspan=8|
! align=right colspan=2| Total
! align=right| 4,054,861
! align=right| 100.0
! align=right|
! align=right| 123
! align=right| 2
! align=right|
! align=right colspan=2| Voter turnout
! align=right|
! align=right| 63.2
! align=right| 6.7
! align=right|
! align=right|
! align=right|

Government formation

Mayor Tschentscher stated that exploratory talks with the Greens were "the first priority", but that "we will also - if the majorities are confirmed - approach the CDU and hold a conversation." Marcus Weinberg of the CDU stated he was "ready for talks" with the SPD. Lead candidate for the Greens Katharina Fegebank called for "More red-green, with strong greens in the government." Cansu Özdemir of The Left stated her party wished to remain a strong opposition force.
The SPD and Greens came to a coalition agreement at the end of May. The SPD took 7 ministries and the Greens 4, a net gain of one for the Greens. The vote for Mayor took place on 10 June, and Tschentscher was re-elected Mayor with 87 votes in favour, 34 against, and 2 abstentions. The new cabinet was also approved with 83 votes in favour, 38 against, and 2 abstentions.