Exit poll gives Scholz's Social Democrats a slight lead over far right in German state vote
An exit poll shows Germany's Social Democrats with a slight edge over a far-right party in a state election in Brandenburg
POTSDAM, Germany — An exit poll released after voting ended in a state election in Brandenburg on Sunday showed the Social Democrats with a slight edge over a growing far-right party. The voting took place three weeks after the far-right party made gains in two other states in eastern Germany.
The exit poll by Infratest dimap for public broadcaster ARD projected that the Social Democrats won 31.1% of the votes and the far-right Alternative for Germany won 29.8%. The results are expected later in the evening.
Around 2.1 million people were registered to vote for a new state parliament in Brandenburg, the state that surrounds the German capital, Berlin.
Sunday's election was being watched closely for signs about the country's political direction.
Polls in recent weeks showed the Alternative for Germany mounting a challenge to the Social Democrats, the party that has governed Brandenburg continuously since German reunification in 1990.
The Social Democrats, the largest party in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-way coalition government, hoped to maintain their stronghold in the face of rising support for parties on the extreme right and left.
A loss by the Social Democrats in Brandenburg would be seen as a bad omen for Scholz, a year before a federal election that is due to be held on Sept. 28, 2025. Scholz lives in Potsdam, the capital of Brandenburg, and German political observers believe the chancellor's political future will be shaped by the results of Sunday's vote.
The fate of the Brandenburg governor, Dietmar Woidke, was also hanging in the balance. He made it his goal for his Social Democrats to
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