Regional election in north German state of Bremen a test for center-left alliance

BERLIN (AP) — Voters are going to the polls in Germany’s northern state of Bremen to decide Sunday whether the center-left Social Democrats can continue to run a city they’ve governed since World War II. The party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz came second behind its conservative rivals for the first time in 70 years at the last election, but retained power with the help of the Greens and Left party. While recent polls show greater support for the Social Democrats than their challengers from the Christian Democratic Union, both of Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte’s junior coalition partners have lost ground. Almost 500,000 voters aged 16 and older in Bremen and its North Sea exclave Bremerhaven can cast their vote until 6 p.m.