2015 Styrian state election

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 2015 Styrian state election

| country = Styria

| flag_year = state

| type = parliamentary

| previous_election = 2010 Styrian state election

| previous_year = 2010

| next_election = 2019 Styrian state election

| next_year = 2019

| election_date = 31 May 2015

| seats_for_election = All 48 seats in the Landtag of Styria

| majority_seats = 25

| turnout = 655,051 (67.9%)
{{decrease}} 1.6%

| image1 = 150x150px

| leader1 = Franz Voves

| party1 = Social Democratic Party of Austria

| last_election1 = 23 seats, 38.3%

| seats1 = 15

| seat_change1 = {{decrease}} 8

| popular_vote1 = 189,762

| percentage1 = 29.3%

| swing1 = {{decrease}} 9.0%

| image2 = 150x150px

| leader2 = Hermann Schützenhöfer

| party2 = Austrian People's Party

| last_election2 = 22 seats, 37.2%

| popular_vote2 = 184,301

| seats2 = 14

| seat_change2 = {{decrease}} 8

| percentage2 = 28.5%

| swing2 = {{decrease}} 8.7%

| image3 = 150x150px

| leader3 = Mario Kunasek

| party3 = Freedom Party of Austria

| last_election3 = 6 seats, 10.7%

| seats3 = 14

| seat_change3 = {{increase}} 8

| popular_vote3 = 173,332

| percentage3 = 26.8%

| swing3 = {{increase}} 16.1%

| image4 = 150x150px

| leader4 = Lambert Schönleitner

| party4 = The Greens – The Green Alternative

| last_election4 = 3 seats, 5.6%

| seats4 = 3

| seat_change4 = {{steady}} 0

| popular_vote4 = 43,272

| percentage4 = 6.7%

| swing4 = {{increase}} 1.1%

| image5 = 150x150px

| leader5 = Claudia Klimt-Weithaler

| party5 = Communist Party of Austria

| last_election5 = 2 seats, 4.4%

| seats5 = 2

| seat_change5 = {{steady}} 0

| popular_vote5 = 27,339

| percentage5 = 4.2%

| swing5 = {{decrease}} 0.2%

| map_image = Landtagswahlkarte Steiermark 2015.svg

| map_size = 350px

| map_caption = Results by municipality.

| title = Governor

| before_election = Franz Voves

| before_party = Social Democratic Party of Austria

| after_election = Hermann Schützenhöfer

| after_party = Austrian People's Party

}}

The 2015 Styrian state election was held on 31 May 2015 to elect the members of the Landtag of Styria.

The election saw major losses for the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) and Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), the two major parties, matched by huge gains for the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). The SPÖ finished first on 29.3% and 15 seats, just ahead of the ÖVP's 28.5% and 14 seats. The FPÖ placed a close third with 26.8%, and tied the ÖVP in seats.{{cite web|url=https://egov.stmk.gv.at/wahlen/LT2015/LT2015_60000.html|title=Styria overall - final result|date=3 June 2015|publisher=Styrian Government}}

Governor Franz Voves resigned after the election. The SPÖ and ÖVP renewed their coalition government, but during negotiations, it was unexpectedly announced that ÖVP leader Hermann Schützenhöfer would become Governor, despite his party being the smaller of the two.{{cite web|url=https://steiermark.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2715472/|title=Schützenhöfer becomes LH, Schickhofer follows Voves|date=10 June 2015|publisher=ORF}} The SPÖ claimed it was a necessary concession to prevent an ÖVP–FPÖ coalition; nonetheless, the announcement caused significant controversy. Schützenhöfer was sworn in on 15 June.{{cite web|url=https://orf.at/v2/stories/2283520/2283509/|title="First should provide governor"|date=11 June 2015|publisher=ORF}}

Background

After the 2010 election, the SPÖ won a narrow victory over the ÖVP, and the two parties formed a coalition government.

Prior to amendments made in 2011, the Styrian constitution mandated that cabinet positions in the state government be allocated between parties proportionally in accordance with the share of votes won by each; this is known as Proporz. As such, the government was a perpetual coalition of all parties that qualified for at least one cabinet position. In November 2011, the Landtag voted to amend the constitution to remove this requirement. As such, the 2015 election was the first in post-war Styrian history in which conventional coalition formation could take place.{{cite web|url=https://www.diepresse.com/3883323/der-proporz-wird-zum-auslaufmodell|title=Proporz is becoming obsolete|date=8 October 2014|publisher=Die Presse}}

Electoral system

The 48 seats of the Landtag of Styria are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. 38 of the seats are distributed between four multi-member constituencies. For parties to receive any representation in the Landtag, they must win at least one seat in a constituency directly. Seats are distributed in constituencies according to the Hare quota, with ten leveling seats allocated using the D'Hondt method at the state level, to ensure overall proportionality between a party's vote share and its share of seats.{{cite web|url=https://www.verwaltung.steiermark.at/cms/dokumente/11679987_74837604/48a5ebef/Tableau_2019_Mandatsverteilung.pdf|title=Mandate distribution table|publisher=Styrian Government}}

Contesting parties

class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" colspan="3"\| Name ! rowspan="2"\| Ideology ! rowspan="2"\| Leader ! colspan="2"\| 2010 result
Votes (%) ! Seats
style="background:{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| SPÖ \| Social Democratic Party of Austria {{small\|Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs}} \| Social democracy \| Franz Voves \| style="text-align:center;"\| 38.3% \| {{Composition bar\|23\|48\|{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}}}}
style="background:{{party color\|Austrian People's Party}};"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| ÖVP \| Austrian People's Party {{small\|Österreichische Volkspartei}} \| Christian democracy \| Hermann Schützenhöfer \| style="text-align:center;"\| 37.2% \| {{Composition bar\|22\|48\|{{party color\|Austrian People's Party}}}}
style="background:{{party color\|Freedom Party of Austria}};"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| FPÖ \| Freedom Party of Austria {{small\|Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs}} \| Right-wing populism Euroscepticism \| Mario Kunasek \| style="text-align:center;"\| 10.7% \| {{Composition bar\|6\|48\|{{party color\|Freedom Party of Austria}}}}
style="background:{{party color\|The Greens – The Green Alternative}};"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| GRÜNE \| The Greens – The Green Alternative {{small\|Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative}} \| Green politics \| Lambert Schönleitner \| style="text-align:center;"\| 5.6% \| {{Composition bar\|3\|48\|{{party color\|The Greens – The Green Alternative}}}}
style="background:{{party color\|Communist Party of Austria}};"\| \| style="text-align:center;"\| KPÖ \| Communist Party of Austria {{small\|Kommunistische Partei Österreichs}} \| Communism \| Claudia Klimt-Weithaler \| style="text-align:center;"\| 4.4% \| {{Composition bar\|2\|48\|{{party color\|Communist Party of Austria}}}}

class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2" colspan="3"| Name

! rowspan="2"| Ideology

! rowspan="2"| Leader

! colspan="2"| 2010 result

Votes (%)

! Seats

style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};"|

| style="text-align:center;"| SPÖ

| Social Democratic Party of Austria
{{small|Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs}}

| Social democracy

| Franz Voves

| style="text-align:center;"| 38.3%

| {{Composition bar|23|48|{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}}}}

style="background:{{party color|Austrian People's Party}};"|

| style="text-align:center;"| ÖVP

| Austrian People's Party
{{small|Österreichische Volkspartei}}

| Christian democracy

| Hermann Schützenhöfer

| style="text-align:center;"| 37.2%

| {{Composition bar|22|48|{{party color|Austrian People's Party}}}}

style="background:{{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}};"|

| style="text-align:center;"| FPÖ

| Freedom Party of Austria
{{small|Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs}}

| Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism

| Mario Kunasek

| style="text-align:center;"| 10.7%

| {{Composition bar|6|48|{{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}}}}

style="background:{{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}};"|

| style="text-align:center;"| GRÜNE

| The Greens – The Green Alternative
{{small|Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative}}

| Green politics

| Lambert Schönleitner

| style="text-align:center;"| 5.6%

| {{Composition bar|3|48|{{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}}}}

style="background:{{party color|Communist Party of Austria}};"|

| style="text-align:center;"| KPÖ

| Communist Party of Austria
{{small|Kommunistische Partei Österreichs}}

| Communism

| Claudia Klimt-Weithaler

| style="text-align:center;"| 4.4%

| {{Composition bar|2|48|{{party color|Communist Party of Austria}}}}

In addition to the parties already represented in the Landtag, three parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot:

Opinion polling

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;line-height:14px;"
style="height:40px;" ! style="width:130px;" rowspan="2"\| Polling firm ! style="width:130px;" rowspan="2"\| Fieldwork date ! style="width:35px;" rowspan="2"\| Sample size ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"\| SPÖ ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"\| ÖVP ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"\| FPÖ ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"\| Grüne ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"\| KPÖ ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"\| TS ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"\| NEOS ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;" rowspan="2"\| Others ! style="width:30px;" rowspan="2"\| Lead
style="background:{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};"\| ! style="background:{{party color\|Austrian People's Party}};"\| ! style="background:{{party color\|Freedom Party of Austria}};"\| ! style="background:{{party color\|The Greens – The Green Alternative}};"\| ! style="background:{{party color\|Communist Party of Austria}};"\| ! style="background:{{party color\|Team Stronach}};"\| ! style="background:{{party color\|NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum}};"\|
style="background:#E9E9E9;" \| 2015 state election \| data-sort-value="2015-05-31"\| 31 May 2015 \| – \| style="background:#F4C6C9;"\| 29.3 \| 28.5 \| 26.8 \| 6.7 \| 4.2 \| 1.7 \| 2.6 \| 0.2 \| style="background:{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"\| 0.8
[https://kurier.at/politik/inland/steiermark-umfrage-sp-knapp-vor-vp-fp-verdoppelt/132.480.597 OGM] \| data-sort-value="2015-05-24"\| May 2015 \| 503 \| style="background:#F4C6C9;"\| 31–32 \| 28–29 \| 21–22 \| 6–7 \| 5–6 \| 1–2 \| 3–4 \| 1–2 \| style="background:{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"\| 2–4
[https://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/steirer-wahl-wird-zum-krimi/188475821 Gallup] \| data-sort-value="2015-05-15"\| 11–13 May 2015 \| 400 \| style="background:#F4C6C9;"\| 31 \| 29 \| 21 \| 8 \| 5 \| 2 \| 4 \| 2 \| style="background:{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"\| 2
[https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000015820141/umfrage-daempfer-fuer-steirische-reformer Market] \| data-sort-value="2015-05-15"\| 4–7 May 2015 \| 398 \| style="background:#F4C6C9;"\| 33 \| 31 \| 17 \| 7 \| 5 \| 1 \| 5 \| 1 \| style="background:{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"\| 2
[https://www.kleinezeitung.at/politik/innenpolitik/4728108/Landtagswahl_Steiermark-steuert-auf-Dreikampf-zu OGM] \| data-sort-value="2015-05-10"\| May 2015 \| ? \| style="background:#F4C6C9;"\| 30 \| 28 \| 24 \| 7 \| 6 \| 1 \| 3 \| 1 \| style="background:{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"\| 2
[https://steiermark.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2708730/ M+R] \| data-sort-value="2015-05-03"\| March 2015 \| 800 \| style="background:#F4C6C9;"\| 34 \| 30 \| 19.5 \| 6.5 \| 4.5 \| – \| 3 \| 2 \| style="background:{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"\| 4
[https://www.kleinezeitung.at/steiermark/graz/4712445/LANDTAGSWAHL-2015_Umfrage_SP-mit-31-Prozent-knapp-vor-VP- Gallup] \| data-sort-value="2015-04-20"\| April 2015 \| 300 \| style="background:#F4C6C9;"\| 31 \| 29 \| 20 \| 8 \| 4 \| – \| 5 \| 2 \| style="background:{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"\| 2
[https://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/voves-vor-wahlsieg-in-steiermark/180599031 Gallup] \| data-sort-value="2015-03-15"\| March 2015 \| ? \| style="background:#F4C6C9;"\| 32 \| 29 \| 20 \| 8 \| 4 \| – \| 5 \| 2 \| style="background:{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"\| 3
[https://web.archive.org/web/20150108141637/http://wirtschaftsblatt.at/home/nachrichten/oesterreich/4633588/Erste-Umfragen-im-Superwahljahr_Bitter-fur-Haeupl-Voves-Puhringer meinungsraum.at] \| data-sort-value="2015-01-08"\| January 2015 \| ? \| style="background:#F4C6C9;"\| 30 \| 28 \| 21 \| 10 \| 3 \| 1 \| 6 \| 1 \| style="background:{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"\| 2
style="background:#E9E9E9;" \| 2010 state election \| data-sort-value="2010-09-26"\| 26 September 2010 \| – \| style="background:#F4C6C9;"\| 38.3 \| 37.2 \| 10.7 \| 5.6 \| 4.4 \| – \| – \| 3.9 \| style="background:{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"\| 1.1

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;line-height:14px;"

style="height:40px;"

! style="width:130px;" rowspan="2"| Polling firm

! style="width:130px;" rowspan="2"| Fieldwork date

! style="width:35px;" rowspan="2"| Sample
size

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| SPÖ

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| ÖVP

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| FPÖ

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| Grüne

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| KPÖ

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| TS

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| NEOS

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;" rowspan="2"| Others

! style="width:30px;" rowspan="2"| Lead

style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};"|

! style="background:{{party color|Austrian People's Party}};"|

! style="background:{{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}};"|

! style="background:{{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}};"|

! style="background:{{party color|Communist Party of Austria}};"|

! style="background:{{party color|Team Stronach}};"|

! style="background:{{party color|NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum}};"|

style="background:#E9E9E9;"

| 2015 state election

| data-sort-value="2015-05-31"| 31 May 2015

| –

| style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 29.3

| 28.5

| 26.8

| 6.7

| 4.2

| 1.7

| 2.6

| 0.2

| style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 0.8

[https://kurier.at/politik/inland/steiermark-umfrage-sp-knapp-vor-vp-fp-verdoppelt/132.480.597 OGM]

| data-sort-value="2015-05-24"| May 2015

| 503

| style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 31–32

| 28–29

| 21–22

| 6–7

| 5–6

| 1–2

| 3–4

| 1–2

| style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 2–4

[https://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/steirer-wahl-wird-zum-krimi/188475821 Gallup]

| data-sort-value="2015-05-15"| 11–13 May 2015

| 400

| style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 31

| 29

| 21

| 8

| 5

| 2

| 4

| 2

| style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 2

[https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000015820141/umfrage-daempfer-fuer-steirische-reformer Market]

| data-sort-value="2015-05-15"| 4–7 May 2015

| 398

| style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 33

| 31

| 17

| 7

| 5

| 1

| 5

| 1

| style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 2

[https://www.kleinezeitung.at/politik/innenpolitik/4728108/Landtagswahl_Steiermark-steuert-auf-Dreikampf-zu OGM]

| data-sort-value="2015-05-10"| May 2015

| ?

| style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 30

| 28

| 24

| 7

| 6

| 1

| 3

| 1

| style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 2

[https://steiermark.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2708730/ M+R]

| data-sort-value="2015-05-03"| March 2015

| 800

| style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 34

| 30

| 19.5

| 6.5

| 4.5

| –

| 3

| 2

| style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 4

[https://www.kleinezeitung.at/steiermark/graz/4712445/LANDTAGSWAHL-2015_Umfrage_SP-mit-31-Prozent-knapp-vor-VP- Gallup]

| data-sort-value="2015-04-20"| April 2015

| 300

| style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 31

| 29

| 20

| 8

| 4

| –

| 5

| 2

| style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 2

[https://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/voves-vor-wahlsieg-in-steiermark/180599031 Gallup]

| data-sort-value="2015-03-15"| March 2015

| ?

| style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 32

| 29

| 20

| 8

| 4

| –

| 5

| 2

| style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 3

[https://web.archive.org/web/20150108141637/http://wirtschaftsblatt.at/home/nachrichten/oesterreich/4633588/Erste-Umfragen-im-Superwahljahr_Bitter-fur-Haeupl-Voves-Puhringer meinungsraum.at]

| data-sort-value="2015-01-08"| January 2015

| ?

| style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 30

| 28

| 21

| 10

| 3

| 1

| 6

| 1

| style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 2

style="background:#E9E9E9;"

| 2010 state election

| data-sort-value="2010-09-26"| 26 September 2010

| –

| style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 38.3

| 37.2

| 10.7

| 5.6

| 4.4

| –

| 3.9

| style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 1.1

Results

class=wikitable style=text-align:right \| align=center colspan=7\| File:2015 Styrian state election - composition chart.svg
colspan=2\|Party ! Votes ! % ! +/− ! Seats ! +/−
bgcolor={{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}}\| \| align=left\| Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) \| 189,762 \| 29.29 \| –8.97 \| 15 \| –8
bgcolor={{party color\|Austrian People's Party}}\| \| align=left\| Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) \| 184,301 \| 28.45 \| –8.74 \| 14 \| –8
bgcolor={{party color\|Freedom Party of Austria}}\| \| align=left\| Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) \| 173,332 \| 26.76 \| +16.10 \| 14 \| +8
bgcolor={{party color\|The Greens – The Green Alternative}}\| \| align=left\| The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) \| 43,272 \| 6.68 \| +1.13 \| 3 \| ±0
bgcolor={{party color\|Communist Party of Austria}}\| \| align=left\| Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) \| 27,339 \| 4.22 \| –0.19 \| 2 \| ±0
colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey\|
bgcolor={{party color\|NEOS – The New Austria}}\| \| align=left\| NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS) \| 17,078 \| 2.64 \| New \| 0 \| New
bgcolor={{party color\|Team Stronach}}\| \| align=left\| Team Stronach (FRANK) \| 11,292 \| 1.74 \| New \| 0 \| New
bgcolor=#572B85\| \| align=left\| Pirate Party of Austria (PIRAT) \| 1,406 \| 0.22 \| +0.22 \| 0 \| ±0
colspan=2 align=left\| Invalid/blank votes \| 7,269 \| – \| – \| – \| –
colspan=2 align=left\| Total \| 655,051 \| 100 \| – \| 48 \| –8
align=left colspan=2\| Registered voters/turnout \| 964,665 \| 67.90 \| –1.64 \| – \| –
align=left colspan=8 \|Source: [https://egov.stmk.gv.at/wahlen/LT2015/LT2015_60000.html Styrian Government]

class=wikitable style=text-align:right

| align=center colspan=7| File:2015 Styrian state election - composition chart.svg

colspan=2|Party

! Votes

! %

! +/−

! Seats

! +/−

bgcolor={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}}|

| align=left| Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)

| 189,762

| 29.29

| –8.97

| 15

| –8

bgcolor={{party color|Austrian People's Party}}|

| align=left| Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)

| 184,301

| 28.45

| –8.74

| 14

| –8

bgcolor={{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}}|

| align=left| Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)

| 173,332

| 26.76

| +16.10

| 14

| +8

bgcolor={{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}}|

| align=left| The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE)

| 43,272

| 6.68

| +1.13

| 3

| ±0

bgcolor={{party color|Communist Party of Austria}}|

| align=left| Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ)

| 27,339

| 4.22

| –0.19

| 2

| ±0

colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey|

bgcolor={{party color|NEOS – The New Austria}}|

| align=left| NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS)

| 17,078

| 2.64

| New

| 0

| New

bgcolor={{party color|Team Stronach}}|

| align=left| Team Stronach (FRANK)

| 11,292

| 1.74

| New

| 0

| New

bgcolor=#572B85|

| align=left| Pirate Party of Austria (PIRAT)

| 1,406

| 0.22

| +0.22

| 0

| ±0

colspan=2 align=left| Invalid/blank votes

| 7,269

| –

colspan=2 align=left| Total

| 655,051

| 100

| –

| 48

| –8

align=left colspan=2| Registered voters/turnout

| 964,665

| 67.90

| –1.64

| –

align=left colspan=8 |Source: [https://egov.stmk.gv.at/wahlen/LT2015/LT2015_60000.html Styrian Government]

{{bar box

| title = Popular vote

| float =

| titlebar = #ddd

| width = 500px

| barwidth = 400px

| bars =

{{bar percent|SPÖ|{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}}|29.29}}

{{bar percent|ÖVP|{{party color|Austrian People's Party}}|28.45}}

{{bar percent|FPÖ|{{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}}|26.76}}

{{bar percent|GRÜNE|{{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}}|6.68}}

{{bar percent|KPÖ|{{party color|Communist Party of Austria}}|4.22}}

{{bar percent|NEOS|{{party color|NEOS – The New Austria}}|2.64}}

{{bar percent|Other|#777777|1.96}}}}

{{bar box

| title = Landtag seats

| float =

| titlebar = #ddd

| width = 500px

| barwidth = 400px

| bars =

{{bar percent|SPÖ|{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}}|31.25}}

{{bar percent|ÖVP|{{party color|Austrian People's Party}}|29.17}}

{{bar percent|FPÖ|{{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}}|29.17}}

{{bar percent|GRÜNE|{{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}}|6.25}}

{{bar percent|KPÖ|{{party color|Communist Party of Austria}}|4.17}}}}

=Results by constituency=

colspan="2" style="background:{{party color\|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};"\| ! colspan="2" style="background:{{party color\|Austrian People's Party}};"\| ! colspan="2" style="background:{{party color\|Freedom Party of Austria}};"\| ! colspan="2" style="background:{{party color\|The Greens – The Green Alternative}};"\| ! colspan="2" style="background:{{party color\|Communist Party of Austria}};"\|
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;line-height:16px"
style="height:40px;" ! style="width:100px;" rowspan="3"\| Constituency ! style="width:60px;" colspan="2"\| SPÖ ! style="width:60px;" colspan="2"\| ÖVP ! style="width:60px;" colspan="2"\| FPÖ ! style="width:60px;" colspan="2"\| Grüne ! style="width:60px;" colspan="2"\| KPÖ ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;" rowspan="2"\| Others ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;" rowspan="3"\| Total seats ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;" rowspan="3"\| Turnout
class=unsortable\| % \|\| class=unsortable\| {{abbr\|S\|Seats}} ! class=unsortable\| % \|\| class=unsortable\| {{abbr\|S\|Seats}} ! class=unsortable\| % \|\| class=unsortable\| {{abbr\|S\|Seats}} ! class=unsortable\| % \|\| class=unsortable\| {{abbr\|S\|Seats}} ! class=unsortable\| % \|\| class=unsortable\| {{abbr\|S\|Seats}} ! class=unsortable\| %
align=left\| District 1	bgcolor=#F4C6C9\| 28.3	bgcolor=#F4C6C9\| 4	24.8	3	23.5	3	11.2	1	6.4	1	5.7	12	64.4
align=left\| District 2	22.0	2	bgcolor=#D9D9D9\| 38.1	bgcolor=#D9D9D9\| 4	27.9	3	5.2		1.9		4.9	9	72.3
align=left\| District 3	28.3	bgcolor=#F4C6C9\| 2	28.4	bgcolor=#D9D9D9\| 2	bgcolor=#C6D9EA\| 31.8	bgcolor=#C6D9EA\| 2	4.4		2.9		4.1	6	68.3
align=left\| District 4	bgcolor=#F4C6C9\| 36.9	bgcolor=#F4C6C9\| 5	24.3	3	26.4	3	4.4		4.5		3.4	11	68.2
colspan=15 bgcolor=lightgrey\|
align=left\| State seats		2		2		3		2		1		10
colspan=15 bgcolor=lightgrey\|
align=left\| Total	bgcolor=#F4C6C9\| 29.3	bgcolor=#F4C6C9\| 15	28.5	14	26.8	14	6.7	3	4.2	2	4.6	48	67.9
class=sortbottom \| colspan=15 align=left\| Source: [https://www.verwaltung.steiermark.at/cms/dokumente/12224474_74836525/38db08ee/Tableau_2015_endg%C3%BCltig.pdf Styrian Government]

Aftermath

Prior to the election, Governor Franz Voves stated he would resign if the SPÖ fell below 30% of vote share. As the party fell short of this target, albeit by less than one percentage points, Voves announced his resignation. He was replaced as party leader by Michael Schickhöfer. Formal coalition talks between the SPÖ and ÖVP proceeded. As the SPÖ was the larger party, it was naturally expected that they would retain the governorship. However, after several days of negotiations, the government announced that Voves would be succeeded by ÖVP leader Hermann Schützenhöfer. This was received poorly by opposition parties and the federal SPÖ alike, who criticised it as a breach of political convention. The Styrian SPÖ claimed it had been done to prevent the ÖVP from defecting and forming a coalition with the FPÖ. The government took office on 16 June.

References

Category:2015 elections in Austria

Category:State elections in Austria

Category:May 2015 in Europe