2015 Bremen state election

The 2015 Bremen state election was held on 10 May 2015 to elect the members of the Bürgerschaft of Bremen, as well as the city councils of Bremen and Bremerhaven. The incumbent government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens retained its majority. However, Mayor and SPD leader Jens Böhrnsen resigned due to his party's poor performance, which was significantly below expectations. He was succeeded by fellow SPD member Carsten Sieling.

2015 Bremen state election

10 May 2015
All 83 seats in the Bürgerschaft of Bremen 42 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	1,168,352 (50.2%) 5.3%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jens Böhrnsen Elisabeth Motschmann Karoline Linnert Party SPD CDU Greens Last election 36 seats, 38.6% 20 seats, 20.4% 21 seats, 22.5% Seats won 29 20 14 Seat change 7 0 7 Popular vote 383,509 261,929 176,807 Percentage 32.8% 22.4% 15.1% Swing 5.8% 2.0% 7.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Kristina Vogt Lencke Wischhusen Christian Schäfer Party Left FDP AfD Last election 5 seats, 5.6% 0 seats, 2.4% Did not exist Seats won 8 6 4 Seat change 3 6 4 Popular vote 111,485 76,754 64,368 Percentage 9.5% 6.6% 5.5% Swing 3.9% 4.2% New party   Seventh party   Leader Jan Timke Party Citizens in Rage Last election 1 seat, 3.7% Seats won 1 Seat change 0 Popular vote 37,759 Percentage 3.2% Swing 0.5%
Government before election Third Böhrnsen senate SPD–Green Government after election Sieling senate SPD–Green

Analysts expressed surprise about the low turnout (just 50.1%), the lowest since 1945 in a west German state, and concern about a particularly low turnout in impoverished areas, which was seen as an indication of disillusionment with politics in these demographics.

Background

Following the election in 2011, the Social Democrats and Greens continued their coalition government from the previous legislative period. The composition changed several times since the last election following the death of Renate Möbius, later Martin Korol took her place in the SPD caucus. He soon after left the party and sat as an independent before joining the Citizens in Rage. For the CDU, Oğuzhan Yazıcı replaced Elisabeth Motschmann when she was elected to the Bundestag. There were personnel changes in the caucus of Alliance '90/The Greens as well.

Electoral system

Each voter may distribute five votes among party lists or candidates within them (cumulative voting and panachage). The state of Bremen consists of two cities, Bremen and Bremerhaven. Of the 83 members of the state legislature, 68 are elected in Bremen, 15 in Bremerhaven. To be allocated seats from either Bremen or Bremerhaven a party must receive 5% of the vote or more in the respective city. In Bremen (but not in Bremerhaven), the same ballot is also used to determine the composition of the city legislature, also consisting of 68 members who in most cases are the same as Bremen's representatives in the state legislature. Differences may, however, arise since EU citizens resident in Bremen who are not also German citizens may vote in city legislature elections but not in state legislature elections. In the 2003 elections, the 2007 elections, and the current election, this led to one or more of Bremen's seats being allocated to different candidates in the state legislature and in the city legislature.

The state government (Senate), the head of state government (President of the Senate), and the heads of the city governments (Mayor) are later elected by the respective legislatures.

All Germans who have lived in Bremen for at least three months prior to the election are eligible to vote. As of the last election, the voting age is 16, the eligibility age 18. Non-German EU citizens resident in Bremen may vote in city legislature elections but not in state legislature elections which for German citizens in Bremen (but not in Bremerhaven) happen with the same votes on the same ballot.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Bürgerschaft of Bremen.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	2011 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Jens Böhrnsen	38.6%	36 / 83
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Elisabeth Motschmann	20.4%	20 / 83
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics	Karoline Linnert	22.5%	21 / 83
	Linke	The Left Die Linke	Democratic socialism	Kristina Vogt	5.6%	5 / 83
	BiW	Citizens in Rage Bürger in Wut	Right-wing populism	Jan Timke	3.7%	1 / 83

Opinion polls

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	SPD	Grüne	CDU	Linke	BIW	FDP	AfD	Others	Lead
2015 state election	10 May 2015	–	32.8	15.1	22.4	9.5	3.2	6.6	5.5	4.8	10.4
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	6–7 May 2015	1,000	36.0	15.0	23.0	8.5	3.0	6.5	5.0	3.0	13
Infratest dimap	28–29 Apr 2015	1,001	37	16	22	8	3	6	5	3	15
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen	27–29 Apr 2015	1,013	37	15	23	9	3	5	5	3	14
INSA	16–20 Apr 2015	500	37	12	25	9	3	6	5	3	12
Infratest dimap	10–14 Apr 2015	1,001	38	16	23	6	3	5	5	4	15
2014 European election	25 May 2014	–	34.4	17.6	22.4	9.6	–	3.3	5.8	6.9	12.0
FGW Telefonfeld	31 Mar–9 Apr 2014	1,002	40	16	28	8	–	–	3	5	12
Emnid	15–25 Jan 2014	1,401	37	17	21	9	–	3	5	8	16
2013 federal election	22 Sep 2013	–	35.6	12.1	29.3	10.1	–	3.4	3.7	5.8	6.3
2011 state election	22 May 2011	–	38.6	22.5	20.4	5.6	3.7	2.4	–	6.9	16.1

Election result

Summary of the 10 May 2015 election results for the Bürgerschaft of Bremen

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Bremen	Bremerhaven	Total seats	+/-
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	383,509	32.82	-5.8	24	6	30	-7
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	261,929	22.42	+2.0	16	4	20	±0
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	176,807	15.13	-7.4	12	2	14	-7
	The Left (Linke)	111,485	9.54	+3.9	7	1	8	+3
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	76,754	6.57	+4.2	5	1	6	+6
	Alternative for Germany (AfD)	64,368	5.51	New	4	0	4	New
	Citizens in Rage (BiW)	37,759	3.23	-0.5	0	1	1	±0
	Die PARTEI (PARTEI)	21,888	1.87	+1.9	0	0	0	±0
	Pirate Party Germany (Piraten)	17,773	1.52	-0.4	0	0	0	±0
	Human Environment Animal Protection	13,910	1.19	+1.2	0	0	0	±0
	National Democratic Party (NPD)	2,170	0.19	-1.4	0	0	0	±0
Total		1,168,352	100.00	–	68	15	83	0

Popular Vote SPD   32.83% CDU   22.42% B'90/GRÜNE   15.13% DIE LINKE   9.54% FDP   6.57% AfD   5.51% BiW   3.23% Other   4.77%

Bürgerschaft seats SPD   36.14% CDU   24.10% B'90/GRÜNE   16.87% DIE LINKE   9.64% FDP   7.23% AfD   4.82% BiW   1.20%