Merkel`s CDU Wins German State Vote - Exit Poll

Led by Merkel ally Roland Koch, the Christian Democrats (CDU) won 37.5 percent of the vote.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives won enough support in an election in the state of Hesse on Sunday to hold on to power, an exit poll showed, giving them a boost eight months before a federal vote.

Led by Merkel ally Roland Koch, the Christian Democrats (CDU) won 37.5 percent of the vote, up slightly from 36.8 percent in the last vote a year ago, an exit poll for ARD public television showed.

The result gives them enough seats in the state parliament of Hesse, home to Germany's financial capital Frankfurt, to form a ruling coalition with their preferred partners, the Free Democrats (FDP).

The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), who share power with Merkel's CDU in an uneasy "grand coalition" at the national level, were the big losers in the vote as their support in Hesse fell to 23.5 percent from 36.7 percent, the exit poll showed.