The CDU won a majority in the 2003 state election, but lost popularity in the following years. In the 2008 election campaign, CDU Minister-President Roland Koch took a tough stance against immigrant youth violence as an electoral tactic.^[1] The political left criticised this as xenophobic. Other issues included minimum wage concerns, education, and controversy over the planned major expansion of the Rhine-Main airport.

The formation of The Left meant that a party to the left of the SPD and Greens stood a serious chance of entering the Landtag for the first time in decades. The party polled between 4 and 6 per cent in the lead-up to the election; it was unclear if the party would exceed the 5% threshold.

Polling data narrowed as the election approached; both the CDU and SPD and their junior partners the FDP and Greens were essentially tied. This meant that, if The Left entered the Landtag, it may hold the balance of power and make government formation difficult.

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Hesse.

The CDU's share of the vote fell to its lowest level since the 1966 election. The SPD, under its leader Andrea Ypsilanti, increased its share of the vote substantially, from 29% to 37%; the SPD claimed victory as a result. The other winner was The Left, who narrowly entered the Hesse Landtag with 5.1% of the vote. This was the second western state legislature which the party had entered, the first being Bremen in 2007. The party also won seats in neighbouring Lower Saxony in an election held the same day.

The SPD and the CDU both won 42 seats; the FDP won 11 and the Greens 9. With 56 seats needed for a majority, neither was able to form a government with their traditional partners. There was a several-month-long lull after the election. The Left was thus kingmaker, exactly the result it had hoped for.^[2]

A traffic light coalition (SPD, FDP, Greens) would have held a majority (62), but was rejected by FDP, saying that they will only form a coalition with CDU or go into opposition.^[3]

SPD leader Ypsilanti had long refused to negotiate with The Left, but in October 2008 began talks to include them in a three-party "red-green-red" coalition with herself as Minister-President. This was a controversial move which sparked a revolt in the SPD, as many members bitterly refused to participate in power-sharing with The Left. One day before the election for Minister-President in the Landtag, four members of the SPD parliamentary group indicated they would not vote for her, and called a vote of no-confidence on her leadership.^[4] After this point, it became clear a red-red-green coalition was not viable. New elections were subsequently scheduled for January 2009.