Germany’s and the look set to be able to continue their coalition in the northern state of Hamburg following a regional election Sunday, a projection by public broadcaster ARD showed.
Support for the SPD fell to 33.5% from 39.2% in 2020, but it remains the largest party in Hamburg.
The center-right gained ground and is forecast to come in second with 19.5%. In the last state election, the CDU achieved 11.2%.
The Greens, who are currently in a coalition with the SPD in Hamburg, came in third place with 17.5%.
The socialist is on course to reach double digits, 11.5%, for the first time in Hamburg, according to the forecasts. The far-right party, also gained significantly, reaching 8.5%, compared to 5.3% at the last state election.
Most of the focus in Sunday’s poll was on how the outgoing Chancellor SPD would fare in Hamburg after the party suffered its worst nationwide result in federal elections last week.
The conservative bloc comprised of the Christian Democrats and the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU) came out on top last week, with Scholz’s SPD only able to place in third behind the far-right Alternative for Germany.
Hamburg traditional stronghold for SPD
Hamburg has been led by a center-left coalition comprised of the SPD and the Greens for the last five years and pre-election polling predicted another majority for the alliance led by Social Democrat Mayor Peter Tschentscher.
Although Tschentscher is expected to win by a smaller margin this year, a day before polling opened, he said he was optimistic the SPD would be able to shake the poor national result, because of a long-standing support for his party in Hamburg.
“There is always an influence on state political decisions when the federal political situation is so complicated,” he added to dpa news agency.
At least 121 seats are up for grabs in the regional parliament in Hamburg, and just like in federal elections, parties need to secure at least 5% of the vote to enter parliament.
However, while in federal elections the voting age is 18, all citizens of Hamburg holding German citizenship are eligible to cast a ballot from the age of 16.
Edited by: Sean M. Sinico
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