Germany’s center-right opposition won two state elections on Sunday at the halfway mark of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unpopular national government, and a far-right party that has been riding high in national polls made gains, projections showed.

The votes followed a campaign marked by discontent with persistent squabbling in the national government and by pressure to reduce the number of migrants arriving in Germany. The national interior minister, who leads the federal response on migration, suffered a heavy defeat in what was always a difficult bid to become governor of her home state.

About 9.4 million people were eligible to vote for the new state legislature in Bavaria and around 4.3 million in neighboring Hesse, a region that includes Germany’s financial capital, Frankfurt. Both states were already led by the country’s main opposition Union bloc, made up of the Christian Democratic Union and the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union.

Projections for ARD and ZDF public television based on exit polls and partial counting showed the CSU, which has led Bavaria since 1957, extending that run with support of around 37% — little changed from five years ago and around 20 points ahead of its nearest rival. In Hesse, the CDU was seen winning about 35% of the vote, making gains and also far ahead of its rivals.

The far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has risen to second place in national polls behind the Union, won’t be a factor in determining the states’ new governments, as other parties refused to work with it. But the projections showed it winning 15% to 16% of the vote in Bavaria and 16% to 17% in Hesse, improving on double-digit showings when those two states last voted in 2018.

They pointed to disappointing results for the three national governing parties — Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats, the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats. Both the Greens and the Social Democrats, which put up national Interior Minister Nancy Faeser as its candidate, had hoped to take the job of Hesse’ conservative governor, Boris Rhein.

But neither party came anywhere near challenging the CDU’s 24-year hold on the job. The projections showed them each with 15% to 16%, with Alternative for Germany, or AfD, potentially pipping them for second place.

Scholz’s governing coalition has turned off voters with repeated public squabbling, notably on a plan to replace fossil-fuel heating systems with greener alternatives.

The projections showed the Free Democrats falling short of the 5% support needed to stay in Bavaria’s state legislature and only just hitting that mark in Hesse. Previous election flops for the party have fueled tensions in the national government.

Lars Klingbeil, one of the Social Democrats’ leaders, said voters sent “a signal to the three (governing) parties that there needs to be a different speed when it comes to solving the problems of the people in this country.”

“This is about making Germany a strong economic nation again,” Klingbeil said. “Many crises of recent years have contributed to the situation being what it is; that isn’t the (coalition’s) fault, but we must solve it … and I expect a different speed and a different style than in recent months from the government.”

“We do a lot of good things with each other and talk them down at times,” said Omid Nouripour, the Greens’ national co-leader. And he said that “above all, AfD’s results are alarming and we must do everything to win back confidence.”

AfD’s national co-leader, Alice Weidel, said that “more and more voters are giving us their confidence” and accused the governing coalition of “making policy against its own population.”

In Munich, governor Markus Soeder declared that “Bavaria has voted for stability” in difficult times.

He has bet on continuing his current coalition with the Free Voters, a conservative party that is strong locally but isn’t represented in the national parliament.

Soeder decided last month to keep that party’s leader, Hubert Aiwanger, as his deputy governor despite a furor that started with allegations — denied by Aiwanger — that he was responsible for an antisemitic flyer when he was a high school student 35 years ago. Aiwanger’s party was projected to make modest gains to about 14%.

Soeder is widely considered a potential candidate to challenge Scholz in 2025, although he has denied such ambitions. Sunday’s showing, though underwhelming by his party’s historical standards, should be enough to keep that speculation alive.

(AP)