Germans are voting in two state elections on Sunday, the outcomes of which impact each party's national standing ahead of September's vote to choose Angela Merkel's successor.
Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party is yet to choose their candidate, as the chancellor will not be running for a sixth term.
Things are not looking good for the CDU in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, with the party losing public confidence in the way it's handled the vaccine rollout. A recent corruption scandal involving party MPs has also not helped.
In Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann is in office, a popular politician who has been in office for a decade and is the only Green to serve as state premier in Germany. The Green Party is leading the polls in the wealthy conservative state, which is the home of auto manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. The Green party have gained 10 percentage points in nationwide polls since 2017
In Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany’s Social-Democratic Party (SPD) has managed to maintain its lead over the CDU, partly due to the popularity of State Premier Malu Dreyer, who was re-elected five years ago in a victory over the CDU. Dreyer has been in office since 2013 and is the first woman elected as state premier in the state.
