The 2009 Thuringian state election was held on 30 August 2009 to elect the members of the 5th

Landtag of Thuringia The Landtag of Thuringia is the parliament of the German federal state of Thuringia. It convenes in Erfurt and currently consists of 90 members from six parties. According to the free state's constitution, the primary functions of the Landta ...

. It was held on the same day as the 2009 Saarland state election and the

2009 Saxony state election The 2009 Saxony state election was held on 30 August 2009 to elect the members of the 5th Landtag of Saxony. The incumbent grand coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Minister-President Stanisla ...

. The incumbent Christian Democratic Union (CDU) government 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 ...

Dieter Althaus Dieter Althaus (born 29 June 1958 in Heiligenstadt/Eichsfeld) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as the 3rd Minister President of Thuringia from 2003 to 2009. In 2003/04 he was the 58th President of the ...

was defeated. The CDU subsequently formed a

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there ar ...

with 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). Althaus resigned after the election due to his party's poor performance, which was far below expectations. He was succeeded by fellow CDU member

Christine Lieberknecht Christine Lieberknecht (born Determann 7 May 1958 in Weimar) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). From 2009 to 2014, she served as the Minister President of Thuringia. Lieberknecht was the first woman to become head o ...

, who was elected as the new Minister-President.CDU and SPD form Thuringia state coalition
The Local; 19 October 2009.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 4th Landtag of Thuringia.

Opinion polling

Election result

, - ! colspan="2" , Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- ! Seats % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align= 329,302 , align= 31.2 , align= 11.8 , align= 30 , align= 15 , align= 34.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , The Left (Linke) , align= 288,915 , align= 27.4 , align= 1.3 , align= 28 , align= 1 , align= 30.7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

(SPD) , align= 195,363 , align= 18.5 , align= 4.0 , align= 18 , align= 3 , align= 20.5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

(FDP) , align= 80,600 , align= 7.6 , align= 4.0 , align= 7 , align= 7 , align= 8.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (for ...

(Grüne) , align= 64,912 , align= 6.2 , align= 1.7 , align= 6 , align= 6 , align= 6.8 , - ! colspan=8, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , National Democratic Party (NPD) , align= 45,451 , align= 4.3 , align= 2.7 , align= 0 , align= ±0 , align= 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

Free Voters Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters ...

(FW) , align= 40,811 , align= 3.9 , align= 1.3 , align= 0 , align= ±0 , align= 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Others , align= 8,943 , align= 0.8 , align= , align= 0 , align= ±0 , align= 0 , - ! align=right colspan=2, Total ! align= 1,054,297 ! align= 100.0 ! align= ! align= 88 ! align= ±0 ! align= , - ! align=right colspan=2, Voter turnout ! align= ! align= 56.2 ! align= 2.4 ! align= ! align= ! align=

Outcome

Minister-President and CDU leader

resigned in the wake of the election, stating he took responsibility for his party's losses.Merkel loyalist resigns
/ref> However, observers noted that his resignation also helped clear the way for a grand coalition between the CDU and SPD, which was preferred by both parties, and would be easier to manage under new leadership. The only viable alternative to a grand coalition was a government led by The Left with SPD and Green support, which both the CDU and SPD sought to avoid; the CDU because such a coalition would leave them in opposition, and the SPD because of personal animosity between its leader

Christoph Matschie Christoph Matschie (born 15 July 1961 in Mühlhausen) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as Deputy Minister-President of Thuringia between 2009 and 2014. He was also a member of the Bundestag from 1999 to 2004 a ...

and Left leader

Bodo Ramelow Bodo Ramelow (; born 16 February 1956) is a German politician who has served since 4 March 2020 as Minister-President of Thuringia, an office he previously held from 2014 to 5 February 2020. He is the first head of a German state government to ...

. Ultimately, a grand coalition of the CDU and SPD was formed under the leadership of the CDU's

, who was elected Minister-President.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thuringia State Election, 2009

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2009 elections in Germany