Name: Green comeback stuns Chancellor Merz's conservatives in key German state vote | DW News
Uploaded: 2026-03-09T17:25:21.000Z
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A lot of you will know the German carmakers Mercedes Benz and Porsche.

Adverbs of degree

Maybe you're even lucky enough to drive one of them.

Now, aside from being key brands for the German economy, they're also based in the southwestern state of Baden Wurttemberg.

Now, this state has just held elections and the projected results are predicting a surprise win for the Green Party, an upset for the conservative Christian Democrats.

Now, this was the moment at the Green Party headquarters in Stuttgart when the exit polls were published.

If the results are confirmed, the party will extend their premiership of the state for another five years.

And that means party candidate Chen Oesdemir would become Germany's first state premier with Turkish roots.

The results deal Chancellor Friedrich Merz a blow ahead of other state elections this year, as surveys show the far right surging.

Let's take a look at the preliminary results.

They show the Green party leading with 30.2%.

That's less than 1 point ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merza's Christian Democrats, or CDU.

The far right Alternative for Germany, the AfD, are in third place with 18.8% of the vote.

It's their largest share in Baden Wurtenberg to date.

DW's chief political editor Michaela Kufner is in Stuttgart.

Three key things just happened in these regional elections in Baden Wurchenbach is Germany's key auto state.

And yet this state continues to vote Green.

Cem Ozdemir, who will now likely become the next premier, is also making history as the first German state premier with migratory roots.

His parents came as migrant workers from Turkey to Germany.

And then of course, the far right alternative for Germany continues its path into the upper double D digits and continues its rise also here in a key Western state.

That is a victory, although it is way behind their own expectations, which they saw beyond 20 percentage points.

And then of course there are the Social Democrats who've been halved here in Baden Wurtenbach.

They are the junior coalition partner in Friedrich Merz's governing coalition.

And they will now have a lot more to prove at the federal level.

That could be destabilizing for Friedrich Matz's own coalition government.

And Michala Kufner also spoke with the Greens candidate Cem East Amir, who is projected to become Germany's first state premier of Turkish heritage chemistry.

If the figures are correct, you just won these elections here in the auto making state of Baden back What is so different about your green, let's call it flexi green formula that you were able to convince voters that you should continue to together with Frisch Matz conservatives here?

it's still, I'm still a bit reluctant to call this full victory because we have to wait a few more minutes until it's finally clear that we're number one.

But one thing is clear, we will be part of the next government together with the Christian Democrats.

And one of the differences is that we have coalitions here where we try to solve the problems behind curtains and units come with solutions.

And that is the policy I would like to continue.

Unlike in Berlin now, the far right alternative for Germany did manage to get into the higher double digits though in yet another Western state.

What is your formula to keep them at bay into the future?

I differentiate between the leaders of the aft.

I think the leaders of the AFT make very clear that they're following Mr.

Putin, Mr. Trump, and there is no sense in trying to come together with them.

They are in opposition to all the values of this country, to the constitution of this country.

But having said that, I see my job, if I become the governor or the minister, president of this state, in reaching out to their voter base and trying to win back as many people as possible for this country, listen to them, talk to them, but

of course also defend the values of our state.

And you're the first child of migrant workers to become a state premier in Germany.

So I see this also as an obligation to help every child to develop its full potential.

So to prove that everybody can become whatever he or she wants to become.

And I want to realize that Chairman Tamir, the very likely next state premier of the automaking state of B.

And if you'd like to know more about this election, head to dw.com and to TikTok and Instagram.

We'd also love a chance to answer your questions as well.

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Green comeback stuns Chancellor Merz's conservatives in key German state vote | DW News

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