AfD Surges To First Place In Saxony-Anhalt Election, Reaching State Power

Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged into first place in Saxony-Anhalt’s state election on Sunday, Sept 6, with exit polls showing the party at around 44% and putting it within reach of state-level power for the first time since World War Two.

“AfD won 44% of the vote”

Reuters

Reuters said Ulrich Siegmund, the 35-year-old AfD lead candidate, declared, "We have made history in this country," as counting continued and it remained unclear whether the AfD could form a government.

BBC

NBC News described Magdeburg, Germany, where the projected result was a strong showing but left open whether AfD could fulfill its ambition of forming the country’s first far-right state government since World War II.

The BBC reported AfD was on course to win a record 44% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, far ahead of the conservative CDU on 17%, with most interim results counted.

The BBC also said Saxony-Anhalt has a small population of 2.1 million and that turnout was particularly high at 76.7%, as supporters in Magdeburg praised Siegmund’s success in winning over voters.

AfD leaders celebrated the projected result as a mandate to govern, with Siegmund telling ARD public broadcaster that "we have written history" and that voters had sent a signal that "things cannot carry on like this."

The BBC reported that Siegmund told supporters, "This isn't just about Saxony-Anhalt," and said it was "a signal for the whole of Germany - a self-confident signal."

CNN

In Germany, the CDU’s Sven Schulze conceded victory as he watched the conservative vote slump by more than half on the previous election, while the SPD described the outcome as "truly dramatic" and national leader Lars Klingbeil called it a "signal to Berlin."

Outside Germany, the BBC said U.S. President Donald Trump posted a screenshot of the German TV projection on his Truth Social platform, and Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev praised a "historic win for the pragmatic AfD."

In France, Le Figaro reported that Jean-Luc Mélenchon fumed on X that the result was a "Catastrophic demonstration of the blindness of European centrist politicians" and called it unacceptable for France.

With AfD projected at around 44% but short of an absolute majority, the BBC said the party had so far refused to lead a minority government and that without enough seats to form a majority government there could be new elections.

“No far-right party has won control of a German state since World War Two”

BBC

Reuters reported that Germany’s mainstream parties have all refused to work with the AfD, which has been classified as right-wing extremist by the local office of Germany's domestic intelligence service, leaving the party’s path to governing constrained.

NBC News said AfD went into the vote seeking an absolute majority in the state legislature to govern on its own, while it was unclear whether the BSW would reach the 5% threshold needed to win seats.

Reuters added that Siegmund listed top priorities including "the deportation of people who are illegal, a deportation offensive" and "dropping the incentives for why people come here and exploit our social system," and that he wanted to initiate a long process to withdraw Saxony-Anhalt from the regional public broadcaster.

The BBC framed the broader political stakes by noting that governing at state level would mean powers over policing, local education and culture, and that no far-right party has won control of a German state since World War Two.