BERLIN �� German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party decisively won an election in Germany's most populous state, handing her Social Democratic opponents a humiliating defeat in the last test before she seeks a fourth term in September, according to projections based on exit polls.
Merkel's Christian Democrats took 34.5 percent of the vote Sunday in the industrial heartland of North Rhine-Westphalia, home to about a fifth of German voters, ousting the state's SPD-led government, according to projections by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF. The Social Democrats and Greens slumped to 30.5 percent and 6 percent, respectively, while the pro-market Free Democrats rose to 12 percent, the projections showed.
The result, if confirmed, would be a resounding confirmation for Merkel as she seeks re-election, and boost her standing before a series of international summits starting this month, including meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump.
