Members and supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party react after the first exit poll results were announced on public television at the AfD's election party following Saxony-Anhalt's state elections in Magdeburg, eastern Germany on September 6, 2026. Photo: Ronny Hartmann / AFP / Lehtikuva
International news
Germany’s Alternative for Germany has won the state election in Saxony-Anhalt with about 44% of the vote, putting the party in first place by a wide margin and raising the prospect of a far-right state government for the first time in postwar Germany. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU finished second on about 18%.
Exit polls and early projections showed the AfD more than doubling its 23.7% share from the 2021 election.
The result gave the party its strongest state-level performance since its founding in 2013. Whether it will govern remains unclear because the final distribution of seats depends on the performance of smaller parties.
