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Bloomberg
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union suffered a defeat on Sunday in Volkswagen AG’s home state in a contest that underscored her party’s weakened position as she begins potentially laborious talks to form her next national government.
Three weeks after Merkel’s CDU won the federal ballot, her party posted its worst result in Lower Saxony since 1959 and lost in the state to the Social Democrats. The SPD came from behind to secure 37.4 percent of the vote, compared with 34.5 percent for the CDU, according to projections published by broadcaster ARD.
The late surge by the Social Democrats to win the state for the first time in 19 years marked a reversal for the party, which suffered its worst result since World War II in the Sept. 24 national vote. The result saps confidence for the CDU as Merkel begins multi-party coalition talks at the national level with the pro-business Free Democratic Party and the Greens on Wednesday. The SPD was more than 10 points behind the CDU in polls in Lower Saxony when the election was called in August.