Photo Gallery Bavaria Backs Bavaria
Bavaria's Christian Social Union won in a landslide in state elections on Sunday behind their leader Horst Seehofer. After losing its absolute majority in Bavaria in 2008, Seehofer's CSU won it back with an impressive showing on Sunday.
The result could provide a boost to Merkel's Christian Democratic Union in next Sunday's general election. But it also provides Seehofer leverage to pressure Merkel on issues dear to him.
"The CSU is a people's party and we are deeply rooted in the Bavarian population. Every second Bavarian voted for us!" Seehofer told cheering supporters in Munich on Sunday night.
CSU supporters cheered as the first exit poll results were released on Sunday evening once the polls closed.
The result was a disappointment for the Social Democrats (SPD) who had been hoping to eat into the CSU's power in the state. Still, SPD supporters were pleased by winning two percentage points more than in the last state election in 2008.
The SPD had hoped that popular Munich Mayor Christian Ude would be able to boost the party much further. Still, he called Sunday's election a "turning point" for his party.
The business-friendly Free Democrats were the clear losers of Sunday's election in Bavaria, failing to clear the five percent hurdle for representation in state parliament with a paltry 3.3 percent of the vote. In 2008, the party won 8 percent.
The Greens, too, were in no mood to celebrate after receiving 8.6 percent of the vote, down from the 9.4 percent the party won in 2008.
Head Green Party candidate Margarete Bause on Sunday admitted that her party had not achieved its election goals. The Greens find themselves suddenly struggling on the national stage as well, ahead of next Sunday's general election.
The Pirate Party celebrated on Sunday, though they had little reason for excitement. The party didn't even come close to clearing the five percent hurdle.
Supporters of the Free Voters party on Sunday reacted with disappointment. They too failed to match their 2008 vote total of 10.2 percent, achieving just 9.0 percent this time around.
Counting votes in Munich. "Voters like winners. Such a strong signal from Bavaria will mobilize Merkel's supporters. On the other hand, such a bad result for the FDP could activate their voters," Thomas Jaeger, political scientist at Cologne University, told Reuters.
A man casts his ballot in the Bavarian village of Jachenau on Sunday. The state's economy is the strongest in Germany, making the CSU success unsurprising.
