His Social Democrats (SPD) got 38.5 per cent of votes, and so did the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) of his rival candidate Edmund Stoiber.
Son parti, le SPD (social-démocrate), et celui de son rival Edmund Stoiber, la CDU/CSU (Union démocrate chrétienne et Union sociale chrétienne) ont obtenu tous deux 38,5% des voix.