AfD Wins 39 Seats in Saxony-Anhalt, Thanks Musk After Historic Far-Right Breakthrough
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 7
AfD Wins 39 Seats in Saxony-Anhalt, Thanks Musk After Historic Far-Right Breakthrough
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 7
Summary
Ulrich Siegmund thanked Elon Musk on X after the AfD won Saxony-Anhalt, marking the first time since 1945 that a far-right party has led a German state election.
39 AfD lawmakers were elected in the 83-seat legislature, leaving the party three seats short of an absolute majority and likely still blocked by mainstream parties’ refusal to govern with it.
The campaign leaned on eastern German discontent and nostalgia for communist-era East Germany, while promising deportation drives, a ban on rainbow flags in schools and a halt to new windfarms.
Donald Trump reposted an election projection without comment, and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev hailed a “historic win” for the pro-Kremlin AfD, which wants Germany to stop backing Ukraine.
Will Germany's political firewall hold, or is this eastern election the start of a European far-right domino effect?
Could a far-right victory accidentally collapse its own state's healthcare system by driving away essential foreign doctors?
How can a party promising mass deportations govern a region whose economic survival relies entirely on foreign workers?
AfD’s Record 43.8% Win in Saxony-Anhalt: Germany Faces Political and Geopolitical Upheaval
Overview
The September 2026 election in Saxony-Anhalt marked a historic breakthrough as the far-right AfD won 43.8% of the vote, triggering a political crisis in Germany and across Europe. This surge was fueled by decades of economic decline, demographic shifts, and the withdrawal of state services, which the AfD exploited by focusing on local issues and using digital campaigns to reshape its image. The result left the state parliament deadlocked, with mainstream parties refusing to cooperate with the AfD. International right-wing figures celebrated, while European leaders and German civil society expressed deep alarm, fearing threats to democracy, the economy, and social cohesion.