Laschet Wins Race to Lead Merkel’s Conservatives in Election
- CDU chief overcomes challenge from Bavaria’s Markus Soeder
- Laschet has little margin error to fend off surging Greens
Armin Laschet in Berlin on April 19.
Photographer: Michael Kappeler/picture alliance/Getty Images
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Armin Laschet clinched the nomination to run for German chancellor for Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc, ending a messy standoff that threatened to inflict lasting damage on the country’s strongest political force.
Laschet, the head of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, becomes the favorite to lead Europe’s biggest economy following September’s election after fending off an insurgent challenge from Markus Soeder, the leader of the smaller Bavarian sister party. After a decisive vote by the CDU’s leadership backing Laschet early Tuesday, Soeder conceded.