Angela Merkel’s bloc and their Social Democrat rivals are running neck and neck in national election at 25% each, exit polls show
Two men are jostling for Merkel's job – Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz, 63, of the SPD, and Laschet, 60, of the CDU-CSU.
But Scholz, a colourless but competent former mayor of Hamburg, now stands a chance of becoming the first SPD chancellor since Gerhard Schroeder, who lost to Merkel in a close contest in 2005. With polls predicting a devastating defeat for Laschet, the conservatives trotted out their biggest asset -- Merkel.
But after a series of missteps by Baerbock, including a plagiarism scandal, the Greens were polling well behind the two leading parties on around 17 percent. On the eve of the polls, Scholz voiced his preference for a partnership with the Greens, calling on voters to give him the score needed to go with a two-way coalition.
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