The strong performance of the Left Party and the poor showing of the Social Democrats could lead to a serious discussion of Beck's future.
Since becoming leader of the party more than a year ago, he has trailed well behind Merkel in terms of popularity, while his party on the federal level is at least 9 percentage points behind Merkel's conservative bloc.
Another party, the pro-business Free Democrats, managed to overcome the 5 percent hurdle, the minimum required to enter the regional legislature. The party won 5.5 percent of the vote in Bremen, which would give them about five seats in the legislature.
Guido Westerwelle, the leader of the Free Democrats, ran an aggressive campaign, criticizing the performance of the grand coalition on the federal level and promising to cut taxes and bureaucracy.
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