During the 2009 election several opinion polls showed that Folkvord and Dahle had enough support to earn two seats in parliament. Jens Stoltenberg and Kristin Halvorsen from the Red-Green Coalition were both highly negative towards the idea of having Red in parliament. Folkvord stated several times that he would demand an immediate withdrawal of Norwegian troops from Afghanistan if elected to parliament. He said this decision involved both the "enthusiastic warriors of the Progress Party" and "the disillusioned skeptics of the Socialist Left". Folkvord later felt he needed to set pressure on the Labour Party which would, according to him, move them further to the left. Labour Party member Reiulf Steen had reacted positively towards the idea of having Folkvord in parliament saying, "I am a great admirer of Erling Folkvord. He has integrity and great courage. Besides I am overjoyed that Red supports the Red-Green coalition". When the votes were counted Red had an increase of 1% from the 2005 election, but it was not enough to secure Folkvord a seat in parliament. When all the votes were counted the party had gained 1.3% of the national vote, an increase of 0.1%.