The conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) was the clear winner of the election, winning 36.0% on a swing of 7.6 percentage points.

Afterwards, in line with a promise to step down if the SPÖ fell below 30% of votes, Governor Franz Voves announced his resignation.

However, after several days of negotiations, the government announced that Voves would be succeeded by ÖVP leader Hermann Schützenhöfer.

[3] This was received poorly by opposition parties and the federal SPÖ alike, who criticised it as a breach of political convention.

The 48 seats of the Landtag of Styria are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process.