According to the first forecasts, the CDU has won an extremely clear election in Schleswig-Holstein. According to ZDF, the party of Prime Minister Daniel Günther would get 41 percent of the votes. The SPD achieved around 16 percent under its top candidate Thomas Losse-Müller, the Greens under challenger Monika Heinold came to 19.5 percent. The FDP achieved seven percent, the South Schleswig Voters’ Association SSW six percent. At 4.5 percent, the AfD remains below the five percent hurdle.
According to these figures, Günther emerges even stronger from the election and, as expected, the country can continue to react. Mathematically, he is no longer dependent on two coalition partners; he could continue to govern alone with the Liberals or the Greens. It is still unclear whether the CDU could create an absolute majority.
Five years ago, the Union had won 32 percent of the votes and has since governed with the Greens and the FDP. The Social Democrats had come to 27 percent in 2017, so they still lost significantly, the Greens have improved significantly from almost 13 percent.
About 2.3 million citizens were entitled to vote in Schleswig-Holstein. There were 16 parties to choose from, three more than five years ago. The mayors were also elected in several cities.