German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Saxony State Premier Stanislaw Tillich (L), who runs as candidate for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the upcoming Saxony state election, wave to supporters at an election campaign in Dresden August 29, 2014. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives were poised to cling to power in Sunday's election in the east German state of Saxony but new right-leaning rival Alternative for Germany (AfD) made a breakthrough by winning its first seats in a state assembly.
Early results gave Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) nearly 40 percent of the vote, which would be their worst performance in a state they have run since German unification. The hardline Left and Social Democrats (SPD) were running second and third.
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