1998 Lower Saxony state election

The 1998 Lower Saxony state election was held on 1 March 1998 to elect the members of the 14th Landtag of Lower Saxony. The incumbent Social Democratic Party (SPD) government led by Minister-President Gerhard Schröder was returned with an increased majority. Schröder was subsequently re-elected as minister-president.

1998 Lower Saxony state election

1 March 1998
All 157 seats in the Landtag of Lower Saxony 79 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	4,314,932 (73.8%) 0.0%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Gerhard Schröder Christian Wulff Party SPD CDU Greens Last election 81 seats, 44.3% 67 seats, 36.4% 13 seats, 7.4% Seats won 83 62 12 Seat change 2 5 1 Popular vote 2,068,477 1,549,227 304,193 Percentage 47.9% 35.9% 7.0% Swing 3.6% 0.5% 0.4%
Minister-President before election Gerhard Schröder SPD Elected Minister-President Gerhard Schröder SPD

Schröder took the election as a test run for a potential Bundestag election in September. He said that if SPD would receive less that 42 percent of the vote, he would withdraw his nomination. Achieving 47.9 percent of the vote, he proceeded to run for Bundestag as SPD's ultimately successful Chancellor candidate.[1]