The election took place five months after the death of Governor Jörg Haider, long-time leader of the Freedom Party in Carinthia (FPK).

Nonetheless, Dörfler managed to retain the FPK's position and even increase its voteshare to an all-time high of almost 45%.

The opposition Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) suffered major losses, but remained in second place.

The large majority of its leadership and structure followed, with only a small minority defecting to the FPÖ's new Carinthian branch.

For parties to receive any representation in the Landtag, they must either win at least one seat in a constituency directly, or clear a 5 percent state-wide electoral threshold.