AfD wins 44.4% in Saxony-Anhalt state election ahead of Merz's CDU

Regional election results in Saxony-Anhalt

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) placed first in the Saxony-Anhalt state election on 6 September 2026, securing 44.4% of the vote according to provisional results. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party led at the federal level by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, finished second with 18.2%, followed by the left-wing party Die Linke at 9.1%. The AfD result exceeded pre-election polling estimates by 3 to 4 percentage points. Voter turnout across the eastern state of roughly 2 million residents reached nearly 80%, representing an increase of approximately 20 percentage points compared to the 2021 regional ballot. The AfD expanded its vote share by more than 23 percentage points relative to 2021, while the CDU recorded a decline of more than 18 percentage points.

Government formation and parliament projections

Seat projections calculated at 20:00 indicated that the AfD fell between one and three seats short of an absolute majority in the regional parliament. Lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund stated prior to the election that he intended to govern alone rather than enter a coalition agreement. Mainstream parties represented in the parliament have maintained a policy of refusing formal alliances with the AfD. Potential alternative configurations, including cross-spectrum cooperation extending from the CDU to Die Linke, face significant political friction. Jan Niklas Reiche, a political scientist at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, stated that the post-war consensus excluding the far right from executive office faces immediate pressure.

At party headquarters in Magdeburg, federal party co-leader Alice Weidel welcomed the outcome.

It is a historic moment for us.

During a television broadcast following the release of initial projections, Ulrich Siegmund addressed supporters.

We managed to achieve our goal. We wrote the history of this country.

Candidate platform and Magdeburg demonstrations

Ulrich Siegmund, a former commercial entrepreneur in interior fragrances who entered politics with the CDU at age 19 before joining the AfD, co-authored the local party platform alongside Hans-Thomas Tillschneider. The manifesto emphasizes mass deportations, following Siegmund's participation in the 2023 Potsdam meeting on remigration. His advisory team includes former members of the banned neo-Nazi organisation Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend, prompting Die Linke candidate Alexander Luft to publicly warn against Siegmund's polished media persona. The party platform also proposes cultural restrictions targeting institutions such as the Bauhaus school under the slogan "Our country first". In Magdeburg, demonstrators assembled on Cathedral Square at 18:00 for a silent protest organized by groups including Oma gegen Rechts and Greenpeace, where artists sounded vehicle-mounted sirens.

International reactions from French political figures

The election outcome in Saxony-Anhalt prompted immediate statements from political figures across Europe. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of La France Insoumise, attributed the result to centrist policies in a statement published on X.

Catastrophic demonstration of the blindness of centrist European policies. This disaster is their result. Under these conditions, the German military project to create the first conventional army in Europe is unacceptable for France.

European Parliament member Manon Aubry described the vote as a dark day for Germany while welcoming the 9.1% obtained by Die Linke. Renaissance leader Gabriel Attal stated on BFMTV that political cordons alone cannot substitute for concrete policy solutions in democratic elections. French Communist Party national secretary Fabien Roussel argued that far-right gains stem from poverty, deindustrialization, and European Union treaties. Reconquête leader Éric Zemmour described the outcome as an hour of truth for European voters, while Reconquête European lawmaker Sarah Knafo attributed the vote to decades of institutional weakness.