German media mainly explain the clear victory of the CDU in Schleswig-Holstein by the popularity of Prime Minister Daniel Günther, who has the highest ratings of all German state administrators. The SPD entered the race with little-known candidate Thomas Losse-Müller. According to the first forecasts, the CDU will reach 41 to 43 percent, the SPD will fall sharply to about 16 percent. The Greens get 19.3 percent.
The elections in the north are the second of four federal elections in Germany this year. At the end of March, the SPD won an absolute majority in Saarland and referred the CDU, which had been in power for 23 years, to the opposition benches. Voters in the most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia will go to the polls on 15 May, with Lower Saxony following in October.