The Salzburg state election of 2018 was held in the Austrian state of Salzburg on 22 April 2018. A total of 9 parties contested the election. For this, they had to collect 100 valid signatures of eligible voters in each of the 6 districts, or the signatures of 3 members of the state parliament. All parties except the KPÖ+ and CPÖ were on the ballot statewide, the KPÖ+ only in Salzburg-Stadt and Salzburg-Umgebung and the CPÖ only in Salzburg-Umgebung. Team Stronach and the Pirate Party of Austria decided not to participate in the election. At the 2013 election, the ÖVP came in first with 29.01% of the vote, while the SPÖ finished second with 23.81%. The Greens made strong gains after an investment scandal in which both the governing SPÖ and ÖVP were involved and received 20.18% of the vote, followed by the FPÖ which saw moderate gains and achieved 17.03%. Team Stronach succeeded in entering state parliament with 8.34%, but the Pirate Party and KPÖ failed to do so. Turnout in the 2013 state election was 70.96% and after the election a government between the ÖVP, Greens and Team Stronach was formed. NEOS ran for the first time in a state election in Salzburg. In 2015, the FPS split from the FPÖ, after a dispute between Austrian FPÖ-leader Heinz-Christian Strache and Karl Schnell. Hans Mayr, who ran on the Team Stronach list in 2013 and was the Team's only government member decided to run his own list in the election after Team Stronach ceased to exist.
In opinion polls conducted before the election, the ÖVP was expected to receive between 31-41%, the SPÖ 18-26%, the FPÖ 16-26%, the Greens 7-17% and NEOS 5-9%. All other parties were given no chances to enter state parliament.
Government formation
Experts and the media called the election results a "vote of confidence" for the governing ÖVP and their Governor Wilfried Haslauer, as well as for the first Kurz government at the national level. On 23 April, Green Party leader Astrid Rössler announced her resignation out of "personal responsibility for the election loss of the Greens". On 24 April, the ÖVP started exploratory talks with SPÖ and FPÖ. Talks are to continue on 26 April with the Greens and NEOS. On 2 May, Haslauer and the ÖVP announced their decision to start intensive coalition talks with the Greens and NEOS, with a planned conclusion of talks by the end of May. On 25 May, the new ÖVP-Greens-NEOS government was presented. The new state parliament and government was sworn in on 13 June.
