BERLIN (AP) — The leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's allies in Bavaria is vowing to keep supporting the German leader's national government despite his party's poor result in a regional election.

Horst Seehofer told reporters Monday his Christian Social Union will "will play our part (...) so that the 'grand coalition' can steadily continue to do its work." That coalition also includes Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and the center-left Social Democrats.

Seehofer's conservative party received 37.2 percent of the vote, down from 47.7 percent five years ago. Sunday's result was its worst performance since 1950 in a state vote in Bavaria, which it has traditionally dominated.

Some in the party have blamed Seehofer, Merkel's interior minister, for the result and hinted the 69-year-old should resign — a suggestion he appeared to reject Monday.