Incumbents hold power in German state votes: TV polls

BERLIN (Reuters) – German conservatives and Social
Democrats looked to have held on to power in three state
elections on Sunday, preserving a regional balance crucial for
the stability of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition in
Berlin.

Television exit polls showed Merkel’s conservative
Christian Democrats (CDU) won the most votes in the wealthy
southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg and poorer eastern
region of Saxony-Anhalt.

The Social Democrats (SPD) were ahead in
Rhineland-Palatinate, the last big western state where they
rule, and may have enough support there to govern without their
Free Democrat (FDP) coalition partners.

Merkel came into office in November as head of a Germany’s
first “grand coalition” of the conservatives and center-left
SPD since the 1960s. A conservative sweep in the elections
might have upset the fragile balance of her federal
partnership.

With the votes out of the way, pressure is expected to
build on Merkel to deliver reforms of the health insurance
system and labor market. Her first months in office have
focused largely on foreign policy, including repairing ties
with the United States.