The Social Democrats, Germany's main center-left party, appears headed for its worst-ever result in a state election in Bremen, which it has run for 73 years, as well as a dire showing in the European Parliament election.
Exit polls for ARD and ZDF television put support for the Social Democrats at 24.5% and the center-right Christian Democratic Union, Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, up to 26.5%. The Social Democrats could finish second in the northwestern city-state, Germany's smallest, for the first time.
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In this Thursday, May 16, 2019 photo, a man stands in fron of posters for the European and state elections of Social Democrats, SPD, and Alternative for Germany, AfD, in Bremerhaven, Germany. The city became a battleground for EU's fragile political center, support for Germany's Social Democrats has ebbed dramatically in recent years, but nowhere is their fate more closely watched than in the tiny city-state of Bremen. (AP PhotoMartin Meissner)
The Social Democrats, Germany's main center-left party, appears headed for its worst-ever result in a state election in Bremen, which it has run for 73 years, as well as a dire showing in the European Parliament election.
The exit polls put the far-right Alternative for Germany up at 7% support.
In this Thursday, May 16, 2019 photo, containers are stored in the free harbor in Bremerhaven, Germany. The city became a battleground for EU's fragile political center, support for Germany's Social Democrats has ebbed dramatically in recent years, but nowhere is their fate more closely watched than in the tiny city-state of Bremen. (AP PhotoMartin Meissner)
Thursday, May 16, 2019 photo, cars for import and export park in the free harbour in Bremerhaven, Germany. The city became a battleground for EU's fragile political center, support for Germany's Social Democrats has ebbed dramatically in recent years, but nowhere is their fate more closely watched than in the tiny city-state of Bremen. (AP PhotoMartin Meissner)
In this Thursday, May 16, 2019 photo, a man stands in fron of posters for the European and state elections of Social Democrats, SPD, and Alternative for Germany, AfD, in Bremerhaven, Germany. The city became a battleground for EU's fragile political center, support for Germany's Social Democrats has ebbed dramatically in recent years, but nowhere is their fate more closely watched than in the tiny city-state of Bremen. (AP PhotoMartin Meissner)
The polls put support for the Greens in Bremen up to 18.5%. That party is currently the Social Democrats' junior coalition partner in Bremen, and could decide whether or not it keeps its hold on the state government.
Social Democrats looking disappointed after the first results of the federal state elections in Bremen, Germany, Sunday, May 26, 2019. (Christophe Gateaudpa via AP)
The exit polls put the far-right Alternative for Germany up at 7% support.
In this Tuesday, May 14, 2019 photo a bronze statue depicting the Bremen Town Musicians located in Bremen, Germany. The city became a battleground for EU's fragile political center, support for Germany's Social Democrats has ebbed dramatically in recent years, but nowhere is their fate more closely watched than in the tiny city-state of Bremen. (AP PhotoMartin Meissner)
In this Thursday, May 16, 2019 photo, containers are stored in the free harbor in Bremerhaven, Germany. The city became a battleground for EU's fragile political center, support for Germany's Social Democrats has ebbed dramatically in recent years, but nowhere is their fate more closely watched than in the tiny city-state of Bremen. (AP PhotoMartin Meissner)
Thursday, May 16, 2019 photo, cars for import and export park in the free harbour in Bremerhaven, Germany. The city became a battleground for EU's fragile political center, support for Germany's Social Democrats has ebbed dramatically in recent years, but nowhere is their fate more closely watched than in the tiny city-state of Bremen. (AP PhotoMartin Meissner)
In this Thursday, May 16, 2019 photo, a man stands in fron of posters for the European and state elections of Social Democrats, SPD, and Alternative for Germany, AfD, in Bremerhaven, Germany. The city became a battleground for EU's fragile political center, support for Germany's Social Democrats has ebbed dramatically in recent years, but nowhere is their fate more closely watched than in the tiny city-state of Bremen. (AP PhotoMartin Meissner)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed satisfaction on Monday after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor.
Candidates from his pro-European Union centrist Civic Coalition, or running with the party's backing, won in a series of cities in the second round of local elections held on Sunday, among them Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw and Rzeszow.
“It is very difficult to clearly say who won and who lost,” Tusk said Monday. “But if we compare these results, especially in the most attractive places, on these attractive battlefields ... then I actually have reasons for satisfaction.”
“Law and Justice has simply disappeared in many places,” Tusk added at a news conference, referring to the main opposition party.
The results put Civic Coalition in a favorable position as the country looks next to elections to the European Parliament on June 9.
Mayors were chosen in a total of 748 cities and towns where no single candidate won at least 50% of the vote during the first round on April 7.
Candidates for Tusk’s party also recaptured cities where they had not held power for many years, including Zielona Gora, Legnica and Torun.
The local and regional elections were viewed as a test for Tusk's pro-European Union government four months after it took power at the national level. Sunday's second round strengthened the Tusk government's leverage in the cities, which should facilitate cooperation on development projects and allotment of EU funds.
Tusk's allies also won in some places in the first round two weeks ago, including in Warsaw, where incumbent Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski was an easy victor.
In the first round, the right-wing Law and Justice, prevailed on the level of regional assemblies in the country's 16 provinces, where it took 34.3% of the votes, while Tusk's Civic Coalition got 30.6%. Law and Justice governed on the national level from 2015-23.
Tusk’s socially liberal Civic Coalition traditionally has strong support in cities, while Law and Justice has a more solid base in conservative rural areas, particularly in eastern Poland.
Civic Coalition is the largest group in a three-party coalition that governs the EU nation of 38 million people. The coalition is pro-European Union but otherwise spans a wide ideological spectrum with left-wing politicians in the Left party as well as conservatives in the Third Way.
Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Campaign posters promote candidates as Poles vote in local and regional elections in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
FILE - Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk reacts during his and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting with students in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk is celebrating a victory on Monday April 22, 2024 after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
FILE - Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk listens to the media in Berlin, Germany, Friday, March 15, 2024. Tusk is celebrating a victory on Monday April 22, 2024 after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)
