MERKEL DOUSES SCHULZ MANIA IN REGIONAL VOTE

Angela Merkel won a convincing victory Sunday in a regional election seen as a key test of support ahead of Germany’s national vote later this year, according to exit polls.

Martin Schulz, widely regarded as the strongest rival she has faced in more than a decade, suffered an embarrassing defeat as his party saw its share of the vote fall slightly. If initial projections prove accurate, the result could take the wind out of Schulz’s campaign, after national opinion polls put him ahead of Merkel and led to open talk that he might be Germany’s next chancellor.