German chancellor’s party defeated in legislative vote.
Barbara Sax, AFP / Getty Images
Exit polls after a legislative election in Germany's most populous state showed Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Christian Democrats party badly defeated by the center-left Social Democrats. Merkel's party’s approval rating is at 26 percent in the state—its lowest since World War II. Sunday's election is not expected to rock the power balance and Merkel's party still has a good chance of winning in the 2013 national elections. But tensions are high in Germany as Greece struggles with the bailout and Merkel insists the troubled country needs to implement austerity measures it passed last year.
