3 contrasting candidates seek chancellery in German election

By GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Germany is seeing its first three-way contest for the chancellery, with the environmentalist Greens joining the country’s two traditional big parties in fielding a candidate for the top job. Chancellor Angela Merkel said nearly three years ago that she wouldn’t seek a fifth four-year term. That set up the first election since West Germany’s inaugural vote, in 1949, in which there is no incumbent seeking re-election. The center-left Social Democrats nominated their candidate, Olaf Scholz, back in August 2020. The Greens nominated Annalena Baerbock in March. Armin Laschet emerged as the candidate of Merkel’s center-right Union bloc in April after a bruising internal battle. The three contenders bring varying degrees of experience and different backgrounds to the race.