The 2000 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 14 May 2000 to elect the 13th

Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which convenes in the state capital of Düsseldorf, in the eastern part of the district of Hafen. The parliament ...

. The outgoing government was a coalition of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(SPD) and

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' *Greens of Andorra * Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina *Greens of Burkina * Greens (Greece) * Greens of Montenegro *Greens of Serbia *Gree ...

led by

Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

Wolfgang Clement Wolfgang Clement (7 July 194027 September 2020) was a German politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He was the 7th Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 May 1998 to 22 October 2002 and Federal ...

. The SPD remained the largest party but declined to 42.8%, its worst result since 1958. However, the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) failed to capitalise, falling slightly to 37%. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) returned to the Landtag in third place with 10%, while the Greens took losses and recorded 7%. Overall, the incumbent government retained a reduced majority. Minister-President Clement met with FDP lead candidate

Jürgen Möllemann Jürgen Wilhelm Möllemann (15 July 1945 – 5 June 2003) was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as Minister of State at the Foreign Office (1982–1987), as Minister of Education and Research (1987–1991), ...

post-election, but the SPD settled on renewing the coalition with the Greens. Clement was re-elected by the Landtag on 21 June.

Electoral system

The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 151 members were elected in

single-member constituencies A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vot ...

via

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

, and fifty then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. The minimum size of the Landtag was 201 members, but if

overhang seats Overhang seats are constituency seats won in an election under the traditional mixed member proportional (MMP) system (as it originated in Germany), when a party's share of the nationwide votes would entitle it to fewer seats than the number of ...

were present, proportional

leveling seats Leveling seats ( da, tillægsmandat, sv, utjämningsmandat, no, utjevningsmandater, is, jöfnunarsæti, german: Ausgleichsmandat), commonly known also as adjustment seats, are an election mechanism employed for many years by all Nordic countrie ...

were added to ensure proportionality. An

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...

of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats.

Background

In the previous election held on 14 May 1995, the SPD lost their Landtag majority for the first time since 1980. The CDU recorded another poor performance with under 38% of the vote, while the FDP fell to 4% and lost their seats. The Greens achieved a significant victory with 10% and held balance of power in the Landtag, subsequently forming a coalition government with the SPD. In May 1998, long-serving Minister-President

Johannes Rau Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician ( SPD). He was the president of Germany from 1 July 1999 until 30 June 2004 and the minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia from 20 September 1978 to 9 June 1998. In th ...

resigned. He was succeeded by state economics minister Wolfgang Clement, who continued the coalition with the Greens.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 12th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Campaign

Minister-President Clement stated he hoped for the SPD to regain its parliamentary majority, but that he could also accept a coalition with either the Greens or the FDP. The CDU under lead candidate

Jürgen Rüttgers Jürgen Rüttgers (born 26 June 1951) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as the 9th Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2005 to 2010. Education Rüttgers was born in Cologne. He holds degree ...

aimed to win government, in coalition with the FDP if necessary. The Greens campaigned for a continuation of the outgoing coalition, and capitalised on the SPD's ambivalence toward coalition partners with the slogan: "If you want red-green, you have to vote Green." The FDP ran with former Vice-Chancellor

as their lead candidate, and sought to re-enter the Landtag and surpass the Greens for third place. The CDU were dragged down by the ongoing donations scandal which began at the end of the previous year; their popularity in state polling fell from a high of 46% in December to just 32% in March.

Electoral system

Background

Parties

Campaign

Opinion polling

Results

External links

References