AfD wins state election in Saxony-Anhalt

Magdeburg (dpa/d.de) – The AfD with its top candidate Ulrich Siegmund is the clear winner of the Landtag election in Saxony-Anhalt but failed to gain absolute majority. The CDU with the state premier Sven Schulze suffered significant losses and finished second place.

The AfD, which is classified as confirmed right-wing extremist by the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, could therefore come to power in the federal state, however, the party would need further supporters to do so. It remains unclear whether this could be possible, for example, by securing the votes of individual representatives from other parliamentary groups to elect Siegmund as the state premier. The other parties that are part of the state parliament had ruled out cooperation with the AfD before the election.

AfD doubles its result – CDU suffers significant losses

According to preliminary figures, the AfD more than doubled its share of the vote to 43.8 percent (2021: 20.8). The CDU drops to 17.2 percent (37.1). The Left polled 8.6 percent of the vote, slightly less than last time (11). At 9.3 percent (8.4) the SPD’s result improved slightly, albeit at a low level. The Greens climbed to 8.9 percent (5.9). The FDP got just 2.6 percent (6.4) of the vote and will no longer be represented in the state parliament. The BSW received 5.2 percent of the vote.

This means that the AfD won 39 seats (2021: 23) and the CDU 15 (40). The Left (2021: 12), SPD (9) and Greens (6) won 8 seats each. The BSW will have 5 members of parliament.

At 77.8 percent (2021: 60.3), according to preliminary figures, turnout was the highest in a state election in Saxony-Anhalt since the reunification. Just under 1.7 million people were entitled to vote.

Complex government constellations

The election marks the end of the previous governing coalition of CDU, SPD and FDP. However, state premier Schulze and his cabinet will remain in office in a caretaker role until a new state premier has been elected. 

The only alliance that could secure a majority without involvement of the AfD is a coalition of all other parties. However, based on a resolution adopted at its federal party conference, the CDU rules out the option of a coalition or similar form of cooperation not only with the AfD but also with the Left. 

This could also be an issue with regard to the option of forming a minority government lead by the CDU. In addition to this, the national leadership of the BSW has ruled out voting for the CDU top candidate Schulze as the state premier.

AfD wants to form a government and does not rule out a new election

The AfD top candidate Siegmund commented his party’s result as follows: “This is clearly a mandate to form a government.” At the same time, the 35-year-old said that he did currently not see any partners for forming a coalition. Siegmund stated that a new election would be an option if forming a government turned out to be impossible. 

How will Germany be impacted if the AfD achieves a strong result in Saxony-Anhalt?

The Landtag election will initially only affect the power balance in one of the 16 federal states. Saxony-Anhalt in Eastern Germany is a small state with a population of only 2.1 million, compared to around 18 million people in North Rhine-Westphalia. The AfD will not be automatically in charge of the state government, even if it does show to be the strongest party: the state premier is elected by the state parliament (Landtag). The federal states are mostly in charge of education, culture and the police, while the federal government is responsible for areas of policy that are relevant to Germany as a whole, such as foreign and defence policy. The state governments have no influence here.

Who is the AfD?

The Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany, AfD) is a party that was founded in 2013, during the eurozone crisis. Starting out as a party that primarily promoted economic liberalism and was critical of the euro, the AfD went on to focus on the issues of migration and national identity, thus shifting much further right on the political spectrum. The AfD has been represented in the Bundestag since 2017. At the 2025 Bundestag elections, the party doubled its share of the total vote to 20.8 percent. In nationwide surveys, the AfD currently averages at 27.9 percent (as of 2 September 2026). All other parliamentary groups in the Bundestag – CDU/CSU, SPD, Greens and Left – have been clearly distancing themselves from the AfD, ruling out cooperation with the party.

Is the AfD an extreme right-wing party?

A clear distinction is important from a legal point of view: the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution may monitor the national party as a suspected case. This categorisation is legally valid. The administrative court in Cologne ruled in February 2026 that the office must not categorise the party as a whole as a “confirmed right-wing extremist group” for the time being. The situation is different in Saxony-Anhalt where the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution has been categorising the state branch of the AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist group since October 2023. The AfD has been appealing against the classification.
The possibility of initiating proceedings for banning the AfD has been a subject of debate in Germany for several years.

Why is the AfD particularly strong in Eastern Germany?

There is no simple explanation. However, the 2025 Deutschland-Monitor survey showed that people in structurally weak regions in Eastern Germany tend to lack trust in institutions and to feel that they are disadvantaged. At the same time, it is important to highlight that 98 percent of those surveyed are in favour of democracy as a form of government. Nevertheless, only 51 percent of respondents in Eastern Germany expressed satisfaction with how well it actually works. 

What is the role of the economic situation?

Saxony-Anhalt’s economy shrank by 0.2 percent in real terms in 2025, and a decline of 1.8 percent was observed in the manufacturing industries. Employment figures also declined. The election research group Forschungsgruppe Wahlen conducted a representative survey in August 2026. When asked what they believed to be the most important issue in their state, 22 percent of those interviewed named the economic situation, followed by unemployment, and education and schools each with a share of 17 percent. While migration remains an important and controversial political issue, it was not among the top three problems mentioned in the survey.