Merkel Gains Momentum in German State Vote as Rivals Slump
- Next up is election in biggest bellwether state on Sunday
- Chancellor’s party rebounding after Social Democrat surge ebbs
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Angela Merkel’s party picked up momentum in a German state election, convincingly defeating the Social Democrats who want to unseat the chancellor in the national vote in September.
As Merkel’s preferred candidate Emmanuel Macron won France’s presidential election, her Christian Democratic Union posted an unexpectedly clear victory in a much smaller contest in Schleswig-Holstein. It’s a confidence booster for the CDU ahead of elections next Sunday in SPD-led North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state with 18 million people and the main bellwether before the federal ballot.