German Far-Right AfD Secures Historic Landslide Win in Saxony-Anhalt With 44.5%

Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany secured a historic victory in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, taking 44.5% of the vote in exit polls and leaving the long-governing CDU far behind.

ARD projections put the Christian Democratic Union at 18.5%, giving the AfD more than twice the support of its nearest rival and marking the party’s strongest election result since its founding in 2013.

The scale of the result establishes the AfD as the dominant force in the eastern state parliament. Whether it can convert that lead into government control remains uncertain.

AfD Falls Short of Clear Majority

AfD state leader Ulrich Siegmund had sought enough seats to govern without coalition partners.

“We achieved exactly what we set out to achieve,” Siegmund said after the projections were released.

An outright majority, however, still seemed out of reach. Other parties have ruled out governing with the AfD, raising the prospect of difficult coalition negotiations among its rivals.

Siegmund has said that, without the numbers to become premier, the AfD would remain outside government and seek to capitalize on any instability that followed.

“We can only win,” he said.

CDU Suffers Heavy Defeat

The result delivered a severe setback to the CDU and its state leader, Minister-President Sven Schulze.

At 18.5%, the party finished a distant second in a state where it has long been the leading political force.

The vote also represented an important test for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s federal coalition. More than 1.7 million people cast ballots.

According to Infratest Dimap, voters identified declining trust in established parties, social security, the economy and migration as the four decisive issues.

Fragmented Parliament

ARD projections placed the Left at 9.5% and the SPD at 8%.

The Greens were projected at 9%, while the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, or BSW, stood at 5%, leaving its entry into the state parliament uncertain.

BSW’s presence could further complicate efforts by parties opposed to the AfD to construct an alternative governing majority.

Historic Threshold

The Saxony-Anhalt result marks the AfD's clearest state-level electoral breakthrough to date.

If it ultimately succeeds in forming a government, it would become the first far-right party to lead a German state since World War II.

The party has built support around demands to halt migration, abandon climate policies and restore relations with Russia.

Its rise has also drawn warnings from political and business figures. Merz has said the AfD would send Germany “into the abyss,” while business leaders have warned that its policies could deter investment.

Germany’s domestic counterintelligence authorities have categorized elements of the party as a threat to the constitutional order.