Chancellor Merkel defeats her foreign minister , exit polls indicate . `` This is a bitter defeat , '' says challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier . Merkel 's center-right network got 33.7 % of vote , TV reports . Steinmeier 's center-left Germans received 33.7 % , Christian Democratic Union says .
Chancellor Angela Merkel defeats her foreign minister , exit polls indicate . `` This is a bitter defeat , '' says challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier . Merkel 's center-right Christian Democratic Union got 33.7 % of vote , TV reports . Steinmeier 's center-left Social Democrats received 23.4 percent , network says .