Bavaria's CSU rallies behind struggling Laschet as German vote looms

Armin Laschet, Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) candidate for chancellor on stage with CDU secretary general Paul Ziemiak and Markus Blume, Secretary General of the CDU's Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union CSU following the CSU party meeting in Nuremberg, Germany, September 11, 2021. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

BERLIN (Reuters) -Armin Laschet, the conservative candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor, received strong support from Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) on Saturday as he mounts a push to close the gap in the polls with the Social Democrats (SPD) two weeks before the national election.

Christian Democrat (CDU) leader Laschet, the chancellor candidate for Angela Merkel's CDU/CSU alliance, is struggling to draw voters ahead of the Sept. 26 vote in which Merkel is not running for a historic fifth term.