1970 Hessian state election

{{short description|German state election}}

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 1970 Hessian state election

| country = Hesse

| type = parliamentary

| ongoing = no

| previous_election = 1966 Hessian state election

| previous_year = 1966

| next_election = 1974 Hessian state election

| next_year = 1974

| seats_for_election = All 110 seats in the Landtag of Hesse

| majority_seats = 56

| election_date = 8 November 1970

| turnout = 3,171,227 (82.8% {{increase}} 1.9pp)

| image1 = {{CSS image crop|Image=Albert Osswald.jpg|bSize=180|cHeight=150|cWidth=110|oTop=0|oLeft=35}}

| candidate1 = Albert Osswald

| party1 = Social Democratic Party of Germany

| last_election1 = 52 seats, 51.0%

| seats1 = 53

| seat_change1 = {{increase}} 1

| popular_vote1 = 1,442,201

| percentage1 = 45.9%

| swing1 = {{decrease}} 5.1pp

| image2 = {{CSS image crop|Image=KAS-Dregger, Alfred-Bild-5037-1.jpg|bSize=175|cHeight=150|cWidth=110|oTop=30|oLeft=30}}

| candidate2 = Alfred Dregger

| party2 = Christian Democratic Union of Germany

| last_election2 = 26 seats, 26.4%

| seats2 = 46

| seat_change2 = {{increase}} 20

| popular_vote2 = 1,248,543

| percentage2 = 39.7%

| swing2 = {{increase}} 13.4pp

| image4 = {{CSS image crop|Image=Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F052015-0020, Kiel, FDP-Bundesparteitag, Karry.jpg|bSize=250|cHeight=150|cWidth=110|oTop=10|oLeft=73}}

| candidate4 = Heinz-Herbert Karry

| party4 = Free Democratic Party (Germany)

| last_election4 = 10 seats, 10.4%

| seats4 = 11

| seat_change4 = {{increase}} 1

| popular_vote4 = 316,270

| percentage4 = 10.1%

| swing4 = {{decrease}} 0.3pp

| image5 =

| candidate5 =

| party5 = National Democratic Party of Germany

| last_election5 = 8 seats, 7.9%

| seats5 = 0

| seat_change5 = {{decrease}} 8

| popular_vote5 = 94,531

| percentage5 = 3.0%

| swing5 = {{decrease}} 4.9pp

| map_image = 1970 Hessian state election.svg

| map_size = 250px

| map_caption = Results for the single-member constituencies.

| title = Government

| before_election = First Osswald cabinet

| before_party = SPD

| posttitle = Government after election

| after_election = Second Osswald cabinet

| after_party = SPD–FDP

}}

The 1970 Hessian state election was held on 8 November 1970 to elect the 7th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a majority of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Minister-President Albert Osswald.

The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which had taken a hard line against the SPD under new leader Alfred Dregger, recorded a major swing of 13 percentage points in its favour, to the detriment of the SPD and National Democratic Party, the latter losing all its seats after a single term in the Landtag. The SPD remained the largest party with 46%, and subsequently formed a coalition with the Free Democratic Party, following in the footsteps of the federal government formed the previous year.