AfD Takes 44% Lead in Saxony-Anhalt Vote — SkimNews
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- AfD polled around 44% in Saxony-Anhalt's regional election, more than double its showing five years ago, with exit polls indicating a strong lead but at least a marginal shortfall of an absolute majority in the state legislature.
- CDU under Chancellor Friedrich Merz polled around 18.5%, losing roughly half its previous support in a state the party has led for 24 years, according to ARD and ZDF exit polls.
- Ulrich Siegmund, AfD's 35-year-old candidate for state governor, told ARD "we have written history," adding that the unpopular Merz had been "a very good campaigner for us."
- CDU national general secretary Franziska Hoppermann called the result "a very difficult result for us," acknowledging the scale of the defeat.
- SPD and Greens were on course to remain in the state legislature with roughly 8-9% each, while left-wing BSW was unclear whether it would clear the 5% threshold needed for seats.
- AfD's target of an absolute majority would overcome the "firewall" of mainstream parties refusing to work with the party and deliver Germany's first far-right state government since the Nazi era.
Why it matters: A 44% AfD result — more than double its prior showing — and a CDU collapse to 18.5% ends 24 years of CDU dominance in Saxony-Anhalt and hands Chancellor Merz a symbolic defeat in a 2.1-million-person eastern state where far-right strength has long outpaced the national picture.
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