1975 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

1975 North Rhine-Westphalia state election

← 1970 4 May 1975 1980 →
All 200 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia 101 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	10,358,108 (86.1% 12.6pp)
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Heinrich Köppler Heinz Kühn Horst-Ludwig Riemer Party CDU SPD FDP Last election 95 seats, 46.3% 94 seats, 46.1% 11 seats, 5.5% Seats won 95 91 14 Seat change 0 3 3 Popular vote 4,828,554 4,630,995 689,623 Percentage 47.1% 45.1% 6.7% Swing 0.8pp 1.0pp 1.2pp
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Government before election Second Kühn cabinet SPD–FDP Government after election Third Kühn cabinet SPD–FDP

The 1975 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 4 May 1975 to elect the 8th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Heinz Kühn.

The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) remained the largest party and improved its lead over the SPD, but failed to win an overall majority. The incumbent coalition retained the 105-seat majority it had won at the previous election, with a net shift of three seats from the SPD to the FDP. Turnout increased dramatically to 86.1%, the highest ever recorded in the state. The SPD–FDP coalition was renewed and Heinz Kühn was re-elected as Minister-President by the Landtag on 4 June.^[1]