| Election Name: | 2000 North Rhine-Westphalia state election |
| Country: | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1995 North Rhine-Westphalia state election |
| Previous Year: | 1995 |
| Next Election: | 2005 North Rhine-Westphalia state election |
| Next Year: | 2005 |
| Seats For Election: | All 231 seats in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, including 20 overhang and leveling seats |
| Majority Seats: | 116 |
| Election Date: | 14 May 2000 |
| Turnout: | 7,409,399 (56.7% 7.3 pp) |
| Candidate1: | Wolfgang Clement |
| Party1: | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| Last Election1: | 108 seats, 46.0% |
| Seats1: | 102 |
| Seat Change1: | 6 |
| Popular Vote1: | 3,143,179 |
| Percentage1: | 42.8% |
| Swing1: | 3.2 pp |
| Candidate2: | Jürgen Rüttgers |
| Party2: | Christian Democratic Union of Germany |
| Last Election2: | 89 seats, 37.7% |
| Seats2: | 88 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,712,176 |
| Percentage2: | 37.0% |
| Swing2: | 0.7 pp |
| Candidate4: | Jürgen Möllemann |
| Party4: | Free Democratic Party (Germany) |
| Last Election4: | 0 seats, 4.0% |
| Seats4: | 24 |
| Seat Change4: | 24 |
| Popular Vote4: | 721,558 |
| Percentage4: | 9.8% |
| Swing4: | 5.8 pp |
| Candidate5: | Bärbel Höhn |
| Party5: | Alliance 90/The Greens |
| Last Election5: | 24 seats, 10.0% |
| Seats5: | 17 |
| Seat Change5: | 7 |
| Popular Vote5: | 518,295 |
| Percentage5: | 7.1% |
| Swing5: | 2.9 pp |
| Map Size: | 400px |
| Government | |
| Before Election: | First Clement cabinet |
| Before Party: | SPD–Green |
| Posttitle: | Government after election |
| After Election: | Second Clement cabinet |
| After Party: | SPD–Green |
The 2000 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 14 May 2000 to elect the 13th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens led by Minister-President Wolfgang Clement.
The SPD remained the largest party but declined to 42.8%, its worst result since 1958. However, the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) failed to capitalise, falling slightly to 37%. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) returned to the Landtag in third place with 10%, while the Greens took losses and recorded 7%. Overall, the incumbent government retained a reduced majority. Minister-President Clement met with FDP lead candidate Jürgen Möllemann post-election, but the SPD settled on renewing the coalition with the Greens. Clement was re-elected by the Landtag on 21 June.
The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 151 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and fifty then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. The minimum size of the Landtag was 201 members, but if overhang seats were present, proportional leveling seats were added to ensure proportionality. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats.
See main article: 1995 North Rhine-Westphalia state election. In the previous election held on 14 May 1995, the SPD lost their Landtag majority for the first time since 1980. The CDU recorded another poor performance with under 38% of the vote, while the FDP fell to 4% and lost their seats. The Greens achieved a significant victory with 10% and held balance of power in the Landtag, subsequently forming a coalition government with the SPD.
In May 1998, long-serving Minister-President Johannes Rau resigned. He was succeeded by state economics minister Wolfgang Clement, who continued the coalition with the Greens.
The table below lists parties represented in the 12th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.
| Name | Ideology | Lead candidate | 1995 result | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | |||||||
| bgcolor= | SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany | Social democracy | Wolfgang Clement | 46.0% | |||
| bgcolor= | CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | Christian democracy | Jürgen Rüttgers | 37.7% | |||
| bgcolor= | GRÜNE | Alliance 90/The Greens | Green politics | Bärbel Höhn | 10.0% | |||
Minister-President Clement stated he hoped for the SPD to regain its parliamentary majority, but that he could also accept a coalition with either the Greens or the FDP. The CDU under lead candidate Jürgen Rüttgers aimed to win government, in coalition with the FDP if necessary. The Greens campaigned for a continuation of the outgoing coalition, and capitalised on the SPD's ambivalence toward coalition partners with the slogan: "If you want red-green, you have to vote Green." The FDP ran with former Vice-Chancellor Jürgen Möllemann as their lead candidate, and sought to re-enter the Landtag and surpass the Greens for third place.
The CDU were dragged down by the ongoing donations scandal which began at the end of the previous year; their popularity in state polling fell from a high of 46% in December to just 32% in March.
| Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size | SPD | CDU | Grüne | FDP | Others | Lead | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 state election | data-sort-value="2000-05-14" | 14 May 2000 | – | 42.8 | 37.0 | 7.1 | 9.8 | 3.3 | 5.8 | ||
| Infratest dimap | data-sort-value="2000-05-08" | 8 May 2000 | ? | 45 | 38 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | ||
| Infratest dimap | data-sort-value="2000-05-05" | 5 May 2000 | ? | 45 | 39 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | ||
| Emnid | data-sort-value="2000-04-26" | 26 Apr 2000 | ? | 41 | 40 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | ||
| Forsa | data-sort-value="2000-04-19" | 19 Apr 2000 | ? | 46 | 38 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 8 | ||
| Infratest dimap | data-sort-value="2000-04-12" | 12 Apr 2000 | ? | 46 | 33 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 13 | ||
| Forschungsgruppe Wahlen | data-sort-value="2000-04-08" | 3–6 Apr 2000 | 1,004 | 46 | 38 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 8 | ||
| Infratest dimap | data-sort-value="2000-03-05" | 5 Mar 2000 | ? | 47 | 32 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 15 | ||
| Infratest dimap | data-sort-value="2000-01-16" | 16 Jan 2000 | ? | 45 | 37 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 8 | ||
| Forsa | data-sort-value="1999-12-09" | 9 Dec 1999 | ? | 39 | 46 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 7 | ||
| Emnid | data-sort-value="1999-09-06" | 6 Sep 1999 | ? | 42 | 43 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 | ||
| Forsa | data-sort-value="1999-06-03" | 3 Jun 1999 | ? | 44 | 41 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3 | ||
| Psephos | data-sort-value="1999-03-23" | 23 Mar 1999 | ? | 44 | 40 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Psephos | data-sort-value="1998-09-03" | 3 Sep 1998 | ? | 51 | 34 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 17 | ||
| Psephos | data-sort-value="1998-05-28" | 28 May 1998 | ? | 50 | 33 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 17 | ||
| 1995 state election | data-sort-value="1995-05-14" | 14 May 1995 | – | 46.0 | 37.7 | 10.0 | 4.0 | 2.3 | 8.3 |