The ruling Christian Democrats of the CDU are clearly in the lead in the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. This is apparent from the first forecasts of television channels. The current coalition of CDU and FDP would not last.
According to calculations by ARD and ZDF, Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst’s CDU comes in at 35 percent of the vote. The co-ruling FDP would post a significant loss, reaching 5.5 percent.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic SPD would knock on 28 percent. A neck-and-neck race was expected between the Social Democrats (SPD), who are in power in national politics, and the regionally ruling Christian Democrats (CDU).
The Greens, projected to become the third strongest party, are rising significantly, reaching 18.5 percent. The right-wing populist AfD reportedly gets 6 percent of the vote. The left-wing party would not reach the 5 percent threshold.
According to the ARD, the forecasts would lead to the following seat distribution in the state parliament: CDU 76 seats, SPD 59, Greens 40, FDP 11 and AfD 13. With the end of the black-and-yellow coalition in sight, several new party constellations are possible for a majority in the state parliament of Düsseldorf.
With nearly 18 million inhabitants, the state election in North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the most important in the country. A week ago, the CDU also won the elections in Schleswig-Holstein, at the end of March the SPD triumphed in Saarland. State elections are still to be held in Lower Saxony in October.
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