Updated
Updated · Jacobin magazine · Aug 17
AfD Leads 2 German State Polls, Nears 42% in Saxony-Anhalt
Updated
Updated · Jacobin magazine · Aug 17

AfD Leads 2 German State Polls, Nears 42% in Saxony-Anhalt

3 articles · Updated · Jacobin magazine · Aug 17

Summary

  • Around 2 million voters in Saxony-Anhalt will vote on Sept. 6 with AfD polling 40% to 42% there, close to an outright majority that could let it govern alone.
  • Two weeks later, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin vote; AfD also leads in the former and runs second in Berlin, where it is polling in the high teens and is competitive for first place.
  • That surge is testing Germany’s postwar refusal to govern with the far right, because no far-right party has ruled any German state since 1945.
  • AfD’s rise comes despite several eastern branches being formally classified by domestic intelligence agencies as confirmed right-wing extremist, and it has also opened its widest-ever national lead over Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU.

Insights

Will an AfD win in September shatter Germany’s political firewall and hand extremists unprecedented power over national laws?
How might a state-level push for security with Russia disrupt Germany's foreign policy if the AfD seizes executive control?
Could a far-right victory in Saxony-Anhalt completely dismantle the region's booming renewable energy sector and thousands of local jobs?