(Bloomberg) -- Germany's Social Democratic Party narrowed the lead of Chancellor Angela Merkel's bloc to 2 percentage points in a poll that's the latest evidence of momentum for the SPD.
Support for the Social Democrats increased to 24% in the Allensbach poll, compared with 19.5% in mid-August, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Merkel's Christian Democratic-led bloc declined 1.5 points to 26%. The Greens polled 17%, with the pro-business Free Democrats and the nationalist Alternative for Germany party at 10.5% each.
While such a result in Germany's Sept. 26 election would give Merkel's conservatives first dibs at forming a post-Merkel government, at least three national polls published this week showed them and the SPD tied. The Social Democrats even pulled ahead for the first time in a Forsa poll this week.
Read More: Germany's Social Democrats Overtake Merkel's Bloc in Poll
Buoying the SPD is the popularity of its candidate for chancellor, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, compared with Christian Democratic Union contender Armin Laschet. Merkel isn't running for a fifth term after 16 years as German chancellor.
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