The Social Democratic Party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz is projected to win Sunday's regional elections in the German city state of Bremen.
According to exit polls by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF on Sunday evening, the SPD of Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte is in the lead with 29.5 to 30% of the vote.
Challenger Frank Imhoff's Christian Democrats achieved 24.5 to 25.5%.
The Greens with Environment Senator Maike Schaefer is only projected to garner 12 to 12.5%, which would be a significant drop compared to their last result in 2019. The far-left Die Linke party with Economics Senator Kristina Vogt came to 10.5 to 11%.
The liberal FDP, which governs at the federal level in Scholz's three-party coalition looks, set to scrape by the 5%-hurdle with 5 to 5.5% of Sunday's votes.
The right-wing populist Bürger in Wut (Citizens in Rage), a right-wing populist voters' association, came to 10.5%. The far-right Alternative for Germany, which dominates the right-wing populist camp elsewhere in the country, was not allowed to run in Bremen because two rival executives had each submitted their own lists.
Voter turnout was 57%. A provisional official final result is not expected until the middle of the week - the counting process is lengthy due to the complicated electoral system in the city state.
