Scholz’s SPD Wins State Election Dominated by Energy Crisis
- German regional vote was first test of chancellor’s response
- Lower Saxony heads for an SPD-Green coalition government
Boris Pistorius, Lower Saxony Interior Minister of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), center, and supporters react after exit polls were announced on in Hanover, Germany on Oct. 9.
Photographer: Ronny Hartmann/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party won a state election in Lower Saxony, handing his Social Democrats a victory in the first electoral test since the standoff with Russia over the Ukraine war plunged Europe into an energy crisis.
While Scholz can claim the result as a measure of support for his crisis management and a €200 billion energy-price relief package, the SPD’s share of the vote declined from the region’s last election five years ago to about 33.4%, according to preliminary official results Sunday.