Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats Win Election in Germany’s Biggest State The result in North Rhine-Westphalia bolsters the chancellor ahead of September federal election By Anton Troianovski

Posted By on May 15th, 2017

https://www.wsj.com/articles/angela-merkels-christian-democrats-win-election-in-germanys-biggest-state-1494779940?mod=nwsrl_europe_news

BERLIN—Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union beat the center-left Social Democrats in the regional election Sunday in Germany’s biggest state, providing a major boost to the German leader ahead of national elections in September.

The center-right Christian Democrats finished ahead of the Social Democrats 33% to 31.5% in Sunday’s state election in North Rhine-Westphalia, according to a projection based on exit polls and early results released by ARD public television.

The result represented a major upset in German politics and underlined Ms. Merkel’s political strength as she prepares to run for a fourth term. North Rhine-Westphalia—whose population of 18 million is more than one-fifth of Germany’s total—has long been a stronghold of the Social Democrats, who have governed in the state for all but five of the last 50 years.

 The upstart, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party took 7.4%, meaning it will now have seats in 13 of Germany’s 16 state parliaments. But the party’s hopes of soaring into the double digits in a region with many working-class voters failed to materialize.

The pro-business Free Democratic Party won 12.5% according to the projection, its best-ever result in the state, building momentum ahead of the party’s campaign to try to regain seats in the national parliament in the federal election on Sept. 24.

The campaign in the state turned in part on the record of the Social Democratic premier, Hannelore Kraft, who has governed in partnership with the environmentalist Greens since 2010. Armin Laschet, the Christian Democratic candidate, slammed her performance on the economy and in education. Security was also a major issue, in part because several suspected Islamist extremists, including the Berlin truck attacker Anis Amri, spent time in the state.

But the closely watched vote also sent a message nationwide, showing that despite German discomfort with Ms. Merkel’s acceptance of more than a million refugees and migrants in the last two years, many voters still back her. Of those who voted for the Christian Democrats, 40% said the chancellor played a “very important” role in their decision, according to an Infratest Dimap exit poll. CONTINUE AT SITE

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