Alternative for Germany (AfD) has won the regional election in Saxony-Anhalt, putting a far-right party closer to controlling a German state government than at any point since World War II.
The AfD took 43.8% of the vote in the legislative election on Sunday, 6 September 2026. It won 39 seats in the 83-seat state parliament, three short of the at least 42 seats required for an outright majority. The result was the party’s best in any contest during its 13-year history and more than doubled its share from the previous state election in 2021.
Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD’s 35-year-old state leader in Saxony-Anhalt, said on Monday that discussions had already begun with the aim of persuading individual parliamentarians from other parties to back a governing majority. It remains unclear whether the party can secure that support, or which parties or MPs could be involved.
The election has changed the balance of power in a state led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2002. The CDU won 17.2% of the vote, down from 37.1% at the last state election.
Six parties entered the state parliament: the AfD, CDU, Social Democratic Party (SPD), Green Party, Left Party and Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). Turnout reached 77.8%, the highest level since reunification in 1990.
Merz said the outcome “changes all of Germany” and would have repercussions internationally. He said 60% of voters in Saxony-Anhalt had backed parties that disregard the rule of law in Germany.
The AfD is assessed by domestic intelligence as “right-wing extremist”. Its advance in Saxony-Anhalt, described as an impoverished former East German region, could give the party influence over policing, local education and culture if it succeeds in forming a state government.
No far-right party has controlled a German state since World War II. The Saxony-Anhalt result therefore marks an unprecedented post-war test of whether the AfD can convert electoral strength into executive power.
The party opposes support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s war of aggression, while many AfD politicians maintain close ties with the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian presidential envoy, welcomed the result as a “historic win for the pragmatic AfD”.
The result has prompted attention beyond Germany, including in Russia, Poland and the United States. The immediate question in Saxony-Anhalt is whether Siegmund can turn his party’s 39 seats into a working majority. The composition and policy programme of any potential coalition remain unknown, as do the responses from other state governments and the federal government.
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