The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won 43.8% of the vote in Sunday’s regional election in Saxony-Anhalt, exceeding pre-election forecasts that had put the party at 40-41%. The result gives AfD 39 seats in the state’s 83-member parliament, according to figures from the state’s election authority.
The showing marks a sharp rise from AfD’s 2021 result in Saxony-Anhalt, when the party took just 20% of the vote.
The election dealt a heavy blow to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the state’s outgoing governing party, which lost 25 seats and finished with only 15. Saxony-Anhalt’s incumbent governor, Sven Schulze of the CDU, congratulated AfD on its win, saying, “We as the CDU will also have to deal with this result.”
The Left Party, the Social Democrats, the Greens, and Wagenknecht’s BSW also won seats. The CDU, the Left Party, the Social Democrats and the Greens have all said publicly they will not form a coalition with AfD, meaning the party would likely need to work with BSW, which took five seats, to have any path toward governing. Without an absolute majority, it remains unclear how AfD could rule the state on its own.
AfD’s parliamentary co-chair in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, pointed to national Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a CDU member, as a factor in the party’s success. “Things cannot carry on like this,” Siegmund told German broadcaster ARD, adding that “a very good campaigner for us in this election campaign was Friedrich Merz.”
CDU national general secretary Franziska Hoppermann rejected any cooperation with AfD. “AfD is a right-wing extremist party. It wants to leave the euro; that would be economic downfall… it works closely together with Russia, it wants a completely different social model,” she said, according to The Associated Press. “We will not work with them.”
AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt branch has been classified as an “extremist group” by Germany’s internal intelligence service. Most major German parties have maintained what political leaders and media have described as a “firewall” against forming coalitions with AfD nationwide.
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel called the result “sensational,” saying the party’s “hand is outstretched to all who want to make Saxony-Anhalt better and move Germany forward.”
Trump reacts
President Donald Trump commented on the election in a Tuesday night post on Truth Social, writing, “Wow! The Populist Party in Germany just had a really big night.”
“They finally got tired of the absolutely horrible Immigration rules and regulations which have hurt Germany so badly. THEY ARE ON THE RISE, and not going to take it anymore! MGGA!!! President DJT,” Trump wrote.
Fox News Digital reported that it contacted both AfD and the CDU for further comment. The Associated Press contributed reporting to the original account of this story.
