Conservatives win key German state vote

BERLIN » Voters backed the incumbent conservative governor and dealt a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats on Sunday in Germany’s most populous state, projections based on partial counts showed.

Figures published by public broadcaster WDR forecast the Christian Democrats making small gains in the North Rhine-westphalia state election to take 35.7% of the vote.

The Social Democrats slumped to 26.7%, while the environmentalist Greens more than doubled their share with 18.2%.

The pro-business Free Democrats saw a big drop in support and were on course to get 5.6% of the vote.