| Election Name: | 1974 Hessian state election |
| Country: | Hesse |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1970 Hessian state election |
| Previous Year: | 1970 |
| Next Election: | 1978 Hessian state election |
| Next Year: | 1978 |
| Seats For Election: | All 110 seats in the Landtag of Hesse |
| Majority Seats: | 56 |
| Election Date: | 27 October 1974 |
| Turnout: | 3,264,209 (84.8% 2.0pp) |
| Candidate1: | Alfred Dregger |
| Party1: | Christian Democratic Union of Germany |
| Last Election1: | 46 seats, 39.7% |
| Seats1: | 53 |
| Seat Change1: | 7 |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,528,793 |
| Percentage1: | 47.3% |
| Swing1: | 7.6pp |
| Candidate2: | Albert Osswald |
| Party2: | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| Last Election2: | 53 seats, 45.9% |
| Seats2: | 49 |
| Seat Change2: | 4 |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,394,123 |
| Percentage2: | 43.2% |
| Swing2: | 2.7pp |
| Candidate3: | Heinz-Herbert Karry |
| Party3: | Free Democratic Party (Germany) |
| Last Election3: | 11 seats, 10.1% |
| Seats3: | 8 |
| Seat Change3: | 3 |
| Popular Vote3: | 238,726 |
| Percentage3: | 7.4% |
| Swing3: | 2.7pp |
| Map Size: | 250px |
| Government | |
| Before Election: | Second Osswald cabinet |
| Before Party: | SPD–FDP |
| Posttitle: | Government after election |
| After Election: | Third Osswald cabinet |
| After Party: | SPD–FDP |
The 1974 Hessian state election was held on 27 October 1974 to elect the 8th Landtag of Hesse. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Albert Osswald.
The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) achieved a significant victory by becoming the largest party in Hesse for the first time. The state had long been considered a stronghold of the SPD. Despite this, the SPD and FDP retained a narrow majority between them and renewed their coalition for a second term.
The Landtag was elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 55 members were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, and 55 then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. A single ballot was used for both. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold are ineligible to receive seats.
See main article: 1970 Hessian state election. In the previous election held on 8 November 1970, the CDU achieved a major swing and increased its vote share to just under 40%, offering a serious challenge to the SPD for the first time in decades. Though remaining the largest party with 46%, the SPD were deprived of their majority and formed a coalition government with the FDP.
The table below lists parties represented in the 7th Landtag of Hesse.
| Name | Ideology | Lead candidate | 1970 result | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | |||||||
| bgcolor= | SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany | Social democracy | Albert Osswald | 45.9% | |||
| bgcolor= | CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | Christian democracy | Alfred Dregger | 39.7% | |||
| bgcolor= | FDP | Free Democratic Party | Classical liberalism | Heinz Herbert Karry | 10.1% | |||