STUTTGART: The German Greens on Sunday beat Friedrich Merz’s conservative CDU in a state poll, exit polls showed, marking a blow for the chancellor ahead of elections this year as polls show the far right surging.

Over 31 percent of voters opted for the Greens led by Cem Ozdemir, according to exit polls by broadcasters ARD and ZDF, edging out the CDU with around 30pc.

Updated exit polls for both broadcasters showed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) almost doubling its result compared with 2021 elections, taking third place with about 18 percent of the vote.

The CDU will be hoping that the Green’s narrow lead evaporates as results roll in through the night. It had until recently notched up large poll leads in the state before they shrunk in recent months, with the most recent poll ahead of the vote putting the two parties at a dead heat at 28pc.

Baden-Wuerttemberg’s neighbour, Rhineland-Pfalz, votes in a couple of weeks and September will see a series of regional votes in ex-communist eastern Germany, where the AfD can expect to perform well.

Former bank manager Manuel Hagel, 37, led the CDU in the campaign and hit a rough patch after an eight-year-old video emerged in which he commented on female students’ appearances after a school visit, earning condemnation from across the political spectrum.

The Greens’ candidate, Cem Ozdemir, 60, could now become Germany’s first state premier of Turkish heritage if his partyemerges as the largest and joins a coalition.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2026