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Merz's CDU Secures Win in Southwestern German State

Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union secured 31% of the vote in Rhineland-Palatinate, ahead of the Social Democrats with 25.9%, according to preliminary results. The victory softens the blow of a stinging defeat for the CDU in a state election in neighboring Baden-Wuerttemberg two weeks ago, but will still pile pressure on Merz's coalition with the Social Democrats at the national level. Bloomberg's Oliver Crook reports.