[1][2] On 5 December the red-red-green coalition, led by The Left's Bodo Ramelow, was elected by the Landtag with 46 out of 91 votes.

While the incumbent grand coalition narrowly retained its majority, both parties underperformed expectations.

This was especially true for the SPD, which recorded a result worse than it had polled at any point during the preceding five-year parliamentary term.

For this reason, the SPD leadership decided to leave the coalition and seek other options.

[3] On 4 December, Ramelow was elected Minister-President by the Landtag on the second ballot, with a bare majority of 46 votes out of 91.