German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats suffered their first defeat in a regional election since he took office in December, tumbling by some 12 percentage points in the state of Schleswig-Holstein while the Christian Democratic Union gained, according to exit polls.
The CDU, the main opposition party at the national level, was projected to take 43% of the vote in the northern region on Sunday while the SPD slumped to about 15.5%, which would be its worst result yet in the state of 2.9 million people, ARD public television projected.
The result is a setback for Scholz, who tried to support the local SPD candidate with a last-minute campaign appearance in the state capital Kiel last week.
Scholz has come under criticism for his hesitant response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, though he recently pushed back by approving the delivery of heavy weapons and by taking a more visible role on the international stage.
The result puts CDU state premier Daniel Guenther, an ally of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, on track for reelection to another five years in office, most likely with the pro-business Free Democrats as coalition partner. The Green party added some 4 points to its tally from five years ago and is poised to overtake the SPD as the second-biggest party in the state.
A bigger prize lies ahead for Germany’s parties next Sunday when the traditional SPD heartland of North Rhine-Westphalia, the nation’s most populous state, goes to the polls.
