Voters in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt went to the polls Sunday in an election that could make the far-right Alternative for Germany the first party of its kind to take power at a state level since World War II.
AfD Polling Well Ahead of Rivals
Recent surveys placed the AfD at roughly 40 percent support, far ahead of the governing Christian Democrats under incumbent state premier Sven Schulze at around 23 percent, according to Al Jazeera. The AfD has a chance at winning an outright majority if several smaller parties fail to clear the 5 percent threshold needed to enter the state parliament.
A CDU led coalition under Schulze remains the most likely alternative outcome if the AfD falls short of a majority.
Most Parties Refuse to Work With AfD
The AfD has been classified as right-wing extremist by domestic intelligence authorities in several German states, and most other parties contesting the election have refused to cooperate with it, meaning a CDU led coalition could still keep the party from power even with a strong result, according to Reuters via US News.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the state capital Magdeburg on the eve of the vote for what organizers described as a festival of democracy, with estimates of 15,000 to 20,000 attendees, Al Jazeera reported.
A Test Case for National Politics
The AfD sees Saxony-Anhalt as a stepping stone toward the 2029 federal election, and the party will face two more state votes this month in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin, where it is also polling strongly, according to US News. AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund has run a campaign built partly around a heavy presence on TikTok and other social platforms, according to NPR.
Analysts say a win in Saxony-Anhalt would mark a significant shift in postwar German politics regardless of whether the AfD ultimately forms a government, given it would be the party’s strongest state level result to date.
Support for the AfD in eastern Germany has been fueled in part by frustration with the governing coalition led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin, along with concerns over immigration and the economy. The party has also posted strong results in western German states this year, including around 20 percent in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, underscoring a broader national shift even as its support remains concentrated in the former East Germany.
