The three candidates vying to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor faced off Sunday evening in a primetime TV debate just two weeks out from election day.
The debate, the second of a trio in the lead-up to the September 26 election, was one of the final chances for Armin Laschet, the conservative candidate, to improve the CDU/CSU bloc’s flagging poll numbers.
The Social Democrats’ Olaf Scholz, whose party has surged in recent weeks to take first place from the CDU/CSU, meanwhile will be hoping the response to the debate can keep him on course for the chancellery.
The Greens’ Annalena Baerbock still has a lot of catching up to do as her party has slipped to third place and 16 percent support, down from a high of 25 percent in April.
Read POLITICO’s live blog coverage and analysis of the event below.
