MAGDEBURG: The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has secured a landmark victory in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, exit polls revealed as voting concluded on Sunday. The result marks the first time since World War II that a far-right party has finished first in a German state election.
Exit polls conducted by public broadcasters show the AfD dominating the vote with 44.5% support—more than double that of the incumbent center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which trailed at 18.5%.
Ulrich Siegmund, the lead AfD candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, celebrated the figures at the party’s election headquarters in Magdeburg. “We’ve made history, we need to say this clearly,” Siegmund told reporters, adding that the result serves as a direct political signal to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s federal government in Berlin.
While Saxony-Anhalt accounts for less than 3% of the nationwide electorate, the election serves as a high-stakes bellwether for the AfD’s broader momentum across Germany.
Most major political parties ruled out forming a coalition with the AfD ahead of the vote. However, if smaller parties—such as the Greens, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW)—fail to pass the 5% threshold required to enter parliament, the AfD could potentially secure an absolute majority of seats to govern alone.
Voter turnout surged by nearly 50% compared to the 2021 election cycle, rising from 22.4% at mid-day in 2021 to 34% by noon on Sunday.
Business leaders and economists expressed immediate alarm following the exit polls. Experts warned that the party’s anti-immigration platform could exacerbate skilled labor shortages and deter foreign investment in the region.
High-security measures remained in effect around state government and polling facilities in Magdeburg as official preliminary vote counting continued into Sunday evening.
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