Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is leading in elections in the key German state of Rhineland-Palatinate on Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing preliminary results announced by public broadcaster ARD, BTA reported.
First exit polls from the ARD show CDU with 30.5% of the vote, while the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has 27%. The results suggest Merz will win after narrowly losing the Baden-Württemberg election on March 8.
For Merz, the victory will be a relief after his party lost two weeks ago.
The looming result is a serious blow to the SPD, which is still recovering from its disastrous performance in Baden-Württemberg, where it won only 5.5% of the vote.
The "Alternative for Germany", now clearly positioned as the second strongest party in Germany nationally, is winning 20% of the vote in Rhineland-Palatinate according to the results.
The Rhineland-Palatinate election is the second of five regional elections in Germany this year. Elections in Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt are due in September.