"German Chancellor Angela Merkel Suffers Historic Defeat"

"BERLIN -- German chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have suffered a historic defeat in a state ballot after almost six decades in power there, partial results showed Sunday, in an election that amounted to a referendum on the party's stance on nuclear power.

The opposition anti-nuclear Greens doubled their voter share in Baden-Wuerttemberg state and seemed poised to win their first-ever state governorship, according to calculations based on partial results published by public broadcaster ARD. ...

Representatives of all parties said the elections were overshadowed by Japan's nuclear crisis, turning them into a popular vote on the country's future use of nuclear power – which a majority of Germans oppose as they view it as inherently dangerous."

Juergen Baetz reports for the Associated Press March 27, 2011. 

SEE ALSO:

"Thousands Join German Anti-Nuclear Protests" (Financial Times)

"Some 200,000 in Germany Protest Nuclear Power" (AP)