German elections: Schulz holds campaign rally Leader of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), Martin Schulz, holds an election rally in Hamburg on Thursday. Schulz is challenging German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the country's top job in next month's general election. The former European Parliament chief is racing to narrow his party's gap in the polls with Merkel's conservatives. The latest Deutschlandtrend survey for ARD put support for Merkel's CDU/CSU at 38 percent, followed by the SPD at 22 percent. But Schulz insisted he could still win the race by focusing on those who have yet to make up their minds, after a study last week showed 46 percent of voters are still undecided. IMAGES