Merkel buoyed by district victory

Conservative challenger Angela Merkel’s party today won a boost for her quest to become Germany’s first female chancellor by gaining a seat in the last remaining district in parliamentary balloting.

With all 260 electoral districts reporting, Andreas Laemmel from Merkel’s Christian Democrats won the contest for a seat in Dresden with 37.0% over Marlies Volkmer from Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s party with 32.1%.