AfD Scores Landslide Victory in German State Election

Original article here

Germany’s nationalist Alternative for Germany party scored a commanding victory Sunday in Saxony-Anhalt, taking more than 44% of the vote and delivering a major setback to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union.

With 99% of ballots counted, AfD had 44.1%, while Merz’s CDU trailed far behind with 17.1%.

The result represents a significant breakthrough for AfD, which has built support around tougher immigration enforcement, economic concerns and opposition to Germany’s political establishment. The party is already the largest opposition faction in Germany’s federal parliament.

AfD appeared likely to win 39 of the state parliament’s 83 seats, just short of the 42 needed for an outright majority. Other parties have refused to enter a coalition with AfD, potentially complicating efforts to form a government.

AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla nevertheless declared that voters had given the party a mandate to govern.

“Ulrich Siegmund will be the new premier of Saxony-Anhalt,” Chrupalla said, referring to the party’s 35-year-old candidate. “From here, we will change Germany.”

Siegmund called the result historic and said it would “shake all of Germany.”

Immigration has been a central issue for AfD. Its Saxony-Anhalt platform calls for a special task force to deport migrants and embraces “remigration,” which the party officially describes as using legal measures and incentives to remove migrants from Germany.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency designated AfD an extremist organization last year, a characterization the party disputes. Mainstream German parties have maintained a political “firewall” against governing with AfD.

The Trump administration has criticized efforts to isolate the party. Vice President JD Vance criticized German officials over AfD’s exclusion from political power in a 2025 speech, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the intelligence agency’s extremist designation “tyranny in disguise.”