2008 Bavarian state election

2008 Bavarian state election

← 2003 28 September 2008 2013 →
All 187 seats in the Landtag of Bavaria 94 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	10,612,275 (58.1%) 1.0%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Günther Beckstein Franz Maget [de] Hubert Aiwanger Party CSU SPD FW Last election 124 seats, 60.7% 41 seats, 19.6% 0 seats, 4.0% Seats won 92 39 21 Seat change 32 2 21 Popular vote 4,603,960 1,972,437 1,085,896 Percentage 43.4% 18.6% 10.2% Swing 17.3% 1.0% 6.2%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Sepp Daxenberger Martin Zeil Party Greens FDP Last election 15 seats, 7.7% 0 seats, 2.6% Seats won 19 16 Seat change 4 16 Popular vote 999,111 847,227 Percentage 9.4% 8.0% Swing 1.7% 5.4%
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Minister-President before election Günther Beckstein CSU Elected Minister-President Horst Seehofer CSU

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 (CSU), 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 (FDP) 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.