2026 Hessian local elections

2026 Hessian local elections
8 March 2026
1,979 district council seats
Turnout2,563,598 (54.3%)
Increase 3.9%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Boris Rhein Sören Bartol Robert Lambrou &
Andreas Lichert
Party CDU SPD AfD
Last election 544 seats, 28.5% 476 seats, 24.0% 132 seats, 6.9 %
Seats won 579 428 294
Seat change Increase 35 Decrease 48 Increase 162
Popular vote 736,413 512,824 364,480
Percentage 29.8% 20.8% 14.8%
Swing Increase 1.3% Decrease 3.2% Increase 7.9%
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Julia Frank &
Anna Lührmann		 Jakob Migenda &
Desiree Becker		 None
Party Greens Linke Local voters' associations
Last election 343 seats, 18.4% 77 seats, 4.0% 85 seats, 5.9%
Seats won 265 112 82
Seat change Decrease 78 Increase 35 Decrease 3
Popular vote 344,951 139,922 101,611
Percentage 14.0% 5.7% 4.1%
Swing Decrease 4.4% Increase 1.7% Decrease 1.9%

The 2026 Hessian local elections were held on March 15, 2026 to elect members of Hesse's 21 district councils and 6 independent city councils.

Background

All Germans and European Union citizens who have reached the age of 18 and have resided in their municipality for at least six weeks were eligible to vote. Homeless people were also able to vote for the first time with the establishment of a registration process for people with no fixed address.[1] In March 2025, The Greens proposed a bill in the Landtag of Hesse to lower the voting age in the state's municipal elections from 18 to 16, as is the case in the majority of German states. The bill was defeated in September 2025, with the CDU, AfD, and SPD voting against, and The Greens and FDP voting in favour.[2]

Prior to the elections, the CDU and SPD grand coalition in the Landtag of Hesse passed legislation to change the seat allocation method for municipal elections from the Hare/Niemayer method to the D'Hondt method; in order to reduce the fragmentation of district councils among many smaller parties. This change was successfully challenged in court by the Free Democratic Party, Die PARTEI, and the Hessian Klimaliste; meaning that the Hare/Niemayer method remained in use for this election.[3]

Results

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) placed first, as it did in the previous elections in 2021. It also became the strongest party in Frankfurt, overtaking The Greens. Similarly, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) again placed second, although it lost approximately 10% of its seats. The Greens experienced the most significant losses of any parties, losing 78 seats; although it remained the strongest party in the cities of Darmstadt and Kassel. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) had the strongest gains of any party, although it did not become the strongest party in any municipality.[4]

Over a dozen small parties also contested the elections with varying results. Volt more than doubled its share of the vote and seats. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) participated for the first time since its formation in 2024, winning 14 seats. Other parties winning seats for the first time include Team Todenhöfer, the Human Environment Animal Protection Party, and the Grassroots Democratic Party. Meanwhile, several smaller parties lost all their seats, including The Homeland, Alliance C – Christians for Germany, and the Pirate Party.[5]

Summary of results for the 2026 Hessian local elections[6]
Party Votes % +/- Seats +/-
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 736,413 29.8 Increase1.3 579 Increase35
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 512,824 20.8 Decrease3.2 428 Decrease48
Alternative for Germany (AfD) 364,480 14.8 Increase7.9 294 Increase162
The Greens (Grüne) 344,951 14.0 Decrease4.4 265 Decrease78
Die Linke 139,922 5.7 Increase1.7 112 Increase35
Local voters' associations 101,611 4.1 Decrease1.8 82 Decrease3
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 97,512 3.9 Decrease2.8 77 Decrease46
Free Voters (FW) 70,586 2.9 Decrease0.4 62 Increase4
Volt 48,549 2.0 Increase1.2 37 Increase23
Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) 19,756 0.8 New 14 New
Die PARTEI 12,984 0.5 Decrease0.4 11 Decrease8
Human Environment Animal Protection Party (Tierschutzpartei) 10,232 0.4 New 9 New
Alliance for Innovation and Justice (BIG) 2,258 0.1 Steady 2 Decrease1
Team Todenhöfer 2,045 0.1 New 4 New
Ecological Left 1,770 0.0 Steady 1 Decrease1
PRO AUTO 1,267 0.0 Steady 1 Steady
MERA25 1,021 0.0 New 0 New
The Homeland 755 0.0 Decrease0.1 0 Decrease2
Alliance C – Christians for Germany 605 0.0 Steady 0 Decrease1
Grassroots Democratic Party (dieBasis) 412 0.0 Steady 1 Increase1
Pirate Party 147 0.0 Decrease 0.2 0 Decrease4
Party of Humanists 95 0.0 New 0 New
Total 2,470,262 96.4 Increase0.4 1,979 Increase59
Invalid votes 93,336 3.6 Decrease0.4
Voter turnout 2,563,598 54.3 Increase3.9
Eligible voters 4,717,136

References

  1. ↑ Seelbach, Jannis (2025-12-08). "Wohnungslose bekommen kommunales Wahlrecht". Journal Frankfurt (in German). Retrieved 2026-04-06.
  2. ↑ "Beschlussempfehlung und Zweiter Bericht Innenausschuss zu Gesetzentwurf Fraktion BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN Gesetz für das Wahlalter 16 bei Kommunalwahlen Drucksache 21/2594 zu Drucksache 21/2037" (PDF) (in German). Landtag of Hesse. Retrieved 2026-04-06.
  3. ↑ Ekim Çay, Yağmur (2026-02-02). "Schwere Schlappe für Schwarz-Rot in Hessen". Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 2026-04-06.
  4. ↑ "Kommunalwahlergebnis" (in German). Government of Hesse. 2026. Retrieved 2026-04-06.
  5. ↑ "Kommunalwahlergebnis" (in German). Government of Hesse. 2026. Retrieved 2026-04-06.
  6. ↑ "Kommunalwahlergebnis" (in German). Government of Hesse. 2026. Retrieved 2026-04-06.
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