Far-Right AfD Party Delivers Historic Results in German State Elections

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party notched a historic victory in the eastern German state of Thuringia on Sunday with over 32% of the vote.

The Details: The center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party fell to second place in the state with over 23% of the vote. In the neighboring state of Saxony, AfD finished just over a percent behind CDU. 

Initially Erroneous Results: After a revision, AfD lost a seat, and in turn its “blocking minority” in Saxony, after the state’s election commission said there was a “software error.”

Political Forecast: The results are consistent with June’s European Union election results when right-wing parties made significant gains. In Thuringia, it remains uncertain whether AfD will be able to form a coalition government due to its struggle to find political allies in other parties, but the results could serve as a gauge for Germany’s 2025 national election.

For Context: One of the key pillars of AfD’s platform is its hardline stance on immigration. Two days before the elections, a Syrian refugee stabbed and killed three people in western Germany, prompting Chancellor Olaf Scholz to call for stricter immigration laws.

How The Media Covered It: CNN (Lean Left bias) highlighted that AfD’s victory was the first in a state since the “Nazi era” and called it a “crushing blow” to Scholz’s government. Breitbart (Right bias) highlighted that left-wing populist Sahra Wagenknecht’s party also had “good results” which “demonstrate the appeal of anti-mass migration policies on both the left and right-wing ends of German politics.”