German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's SPD Party Gets Shellacked In Key German State Election

The SPD's defeat in North Rhine-Westphalia is being blamed on Chancellor Olaf Scholz 

DW: German state election leaves Chancellor Scholz reeling 

Chancellor Olaf Scholz is digesting a major defeat after his Social Democrats were comfortably beaten into second place in North Rhine-Westphalia. He now needs a favor from the surging Green Party. 

Sunday night's election victory in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) must have tasted extra sweet for the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU). As in the federal election, the vote in Germany's most-populous state was long described as a neck-and-neck race between the CDU and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), only for a previously unheralded candidate to score a clear victory.  

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WNU Editor: I have been told that the high cost of living is what was/is on the minds of many Germans. And justifiably so. The Russian - Ukraine war is impacting Germany's energy supplies/prices, and in turn the economy. But while this was a major election loss for the SPD in one of their long held strongholds, it will not impact current German policy towards the war .... Scholz’s party keeps Ukraine policy despite state vote loss (AP). 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's SPD Party Gets Shellacked In Key German State Election  

Scholz’s SPD suffers historic defeat in major state election -- Euractiv  

Scholz’s SPD gets another shellacking in key German state election -- Politico.eu 

Scholz's Party Slumps to Worst Result in Germany's Biggest State -- Bloomberg  

Germany: Scholz's party defeated in bellwether North Rhine-Westphalia election -- DW  

German state elections show populism in decline on left and right -- The Guardian