1998 Lower Saxony state election

The 1998 Lower Saxony state election was held on 1 March 1998 to elect the members of the 14th Landtag of Lower Saxony. The incumbent Social Democratic Party government led by Minister-President Gerhard Schröder was returned with an increased majority. Schröder was subsequently re-elected as minister-president.
Schröder took the election as a test run for a potential federal election in September. He said that if the SPD received less than 42 percent of the vote, he would rule out a bid to become the party's chancellor candidate. Achieving 47.9 percent of the vote, he later announced his candidacy and went on to form the first federal SPD-led government since 1982.

Parties