Germans head to the polls in the small western state of Saarland on Sunday in the first of four regional votes this year which could enable Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz to consolidate his grip on power.
The first regional vote since the federal election last September which the Social Democrats unexpectedly won - beating the conservatives for the first time in 16 years - looks set to provide the party another boost.
While the ruling coalition of SPD, environmentalist Greens and liberal Free Democrats has a solid majority in the Bundestag lower house, conservative-led or co-ruled states have 51 of 69 votes in the Bundesrat. In the case of Saarland however, political analysts point out it does not have much weight in the Bundesrat given it has only around a million inhabitants.
The conservatives are actually leading in polls nationwide, at 27% versus 23% for the SPD, said Manfred Guellner, head of pollster Forsa.