A week after a poor showing in Germany’s federal elections, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left party has won more than 30% of the vote, according to preliminary official results.

A voter casts their ballot in a polling station in Hamburg.
Polls have opened in what is currently Germany’s only election scheduled at the state level this yearImage: Georg Wendt/dpa/picture alliance
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Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens look set to be able to continue their coalition in the northern state of Hamburg following a regional election Sunday.

According to preliminary official results, the SPD took 33.5% of the vote compared to 39.2% in 2020, but remained the largest party in Hamburg.

The center-right Christian Democrats (CDU)of chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz gained ground, coming in second with 20%. In the last state election, the CDU achieved 11.2%.

The Greens, who are already currently in a coalition with the SPD in Hamburg, came in third place at 18.5%.The socialist Left Party reached double digits, coming in at 11%, for the first time in Hamburg. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, also gained significantly, reaching 8%, compared to 5.3% at the last state election.

Voter turnout was higher for the election than the previous one in 2020, although the exact number has yet to be released. 1.32 million voters were eligible to cast their ballot.

Most of the focus in Sunday’s poll had been on how the outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD would fare in Hamburg after the party suffered its worst nationwide result in federal elections last week.