Far-right German party wins state election; what’s next

0 September 7, 2026 14:45

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has secured a historic victory in the eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt, the closest a far-right party has come to holding power in a German state since World War II.

The party leaders and their lead candidate were overjoyed as the results were read out, whooping and backslapping as they secured their “historic” victory with 44% of the votes, according to preliminary results. The win delivered the AfD 39 of 83 seats in parliament, just short of the 42 it needed for an absolute majority.

The questions facing the AfD now are whether to govern in coalition or go alone in a minority. All mainstream parties have ruled out working with the AfD, which was classified as “extremist” by German intelligence for its anti-Muslim and anti-migrant rhetoric.

0:00 Far-right extremist German political party AfD wins state election in Saxony-Anhalt state
0:51 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reacts to the election results
1:36 CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen reports from Berlin
3:49 Ulrich Siegmund, AfD’s leading candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, discusses the election
5:27 DW’s chief political correspondent Nina Haase explains the significance

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