By Tristana Moore
BBC News, Berlin
**Three German states are holding elections that will kick off the final month of campaigning ahead of a general election on 27 September.**Party leaders in Berlin will be closely watching poll results in the states of Saarland, Thuringia and Saxony.
All three are ruled by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU party.
Opinion polls suggest Saxony’s governor Stanislaw Tillich looks set to be re-elected, but the CDU could see its vote crumble in Saarland and Thuringia.
The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the Left Party are hoping to topple the CDU in both states.
In a radical move, the Social Democrats’ leader in Saarland, Heiko Maas, has been considering forming a coalition with the post-communist Left party as a junior partner.
But at a national level, the SPD has ruled out a coalition with the Left Party - and the Social Democrats would prefer a coalition with the green party.
Chancellor Merkel’s conservatives still have a comfortable lead in the polls ahead of next month’s federal election.
So far, the campaign has been very dull but the regional elections may liven up the political debate and provide some indication as to whether the Social Democrats will be able to claw back any votes from Mrs Merkel’s CDU.