Germany's Social Democrats win key regional election

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) have won regional elections in the northern state of Lower Saxony, making it the country’s strongest political force once again, according to latest projections on Sunday evening.

Exit polls by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF showed the SPD with 32.7% to 33.3% of the votes, a significant drop from 36.9% in the 2017 election.

The regional vote was widely seen as a litmus test for Scholz as he completes his first year in office this December.

The Christian Democratic Union was at around 28%, its worst state election result in more than 60 years.

The Greens, on the other hand, almost doubled their tally to grab the third spot with 14% to 14.3%, up from 8.7% five years ago.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) also gained ground, reaching 11.6% to 11.8%, compared to 6.2% in 2017.

The AfD likely benefited from voters’ concerns over Germany’s economic situation as the country grapples with a spiraling inflation and a burgeoning energy crisis.

According to the exit polls, the Free Democrats (FDP) party is struggling to breach the 5% cutoff for entry into the state parliament, after having won 7.5% of votes in the previous election.

Socialist party The Left failed again to hit the 5% mark, finishing at around 2.6% to 2.9%.​​​​​​​