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“The Greens have outstripped the Christian Democrats” in the regional election in the northern German state or Land of Bremen, headlines German daily[Süddeutsche Zeitung](http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/wahl-in-bremen-gruene-ueberholen-die-cdu-1.1100364) next to a photograph of Karoline Linnert, the triumphant Green Party candidate. While the Social Democrats (SPD), who have held power in the region for the past 66 years, won the election with 38.3% of the vote, the Green Party took second place with 22.6%. This has attracted attention because it is the first time that, in this smallest Land in the nation, the Greens manage to nudge ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) which garnered 20.6% of the vote. This was the first German regional ballot held after the voting age was lowered to 16 but this did not increase voter participation. With only a 53.6% turnout, it was the lowest in the history of the Land. “In order to attract [voters that young] a change in outlook was needed and that wasn’t the case in Bremen,” according to the daily Tagesspiegel.
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