The 2008 Tyrolean state election was held on 8 June 2008 to elect the members of the Landtag of Tyrol. The election saw major losses of almost ten percentage points for the governing Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), with each suffering its worst ever result up to this point. The ÖVP lost its absolute majority for only the second time in history, while the SPÖ fell to third place for the first time. The major winner of the election was the Fritz Dinkhauser List, which debuted at a strong 18.4%, immediately becoming the second largest party. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) made gains, while The Greens fell by almost five points compared to their best-ever result from 2003. Despite its losses, the ÖVP under Governor Herwig van Staa remained by far the largest party. After leading post-election coalition negotiations, in which the ÖVP secured a coalition with the SPÖ, van Staa resigned and was replaced by Günther Platter on 23 June. Background In the 2003 election, the ÖVP under new Governor Herwig van Staa regained its absolute majority, which it had lost in 1999. The SPÖ made gains, while the FPÖ lost more than half its voteshare. The Greens were the biggest winner, doubling their result to almost 16% and placing third. Despite its majority, the ÖVP chose to form a coalition with the SPÖ. In 2008, Fritz Dinkhauser founded his own party in Tyrol, named the Fritz Dinkhauser List. Dinkhauser was chairman of the ÖAAB, the ÖVP-affiliated trade union association, and known for his criticism of his own party, including the ÖVP government of Herwig van Staa. With his new party, he promoted affordable housing, support for families, and improved education. Electoral system The 36 seats of the Landtag of Tyrol are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between nine multi-member constituencies, corresponding to the districts of Tyrol. 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. Seats are distributed in constituencies according to the Hare quota, with any remaining seats allocated using the D'Hondt method at the state level, to ensure overall proportionality between a party's vote share and its share of seats. Contesting parties The table below lists parties represented in the