The Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 43.8 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt's state election on September 6, 2026, more than double the CDU's 17.2 percent, but fell three seats short of an absolute majority in the 83-seat state parliament [2][13][23]. The AfD secured 39 seats, the CDU 15, and the SPD, Greens, and Left party each won approximately eight seats, while the BSW (Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht) cleared the 5 percent threshold with 5.1 percent to take five seats [1][15][19]. Turnout reached approximately 76.5 to 78 percent, higher than at the previous election [13][22].
AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund declared the party had "made history" and claimed a clear governing mandate, offering cooperation to other parties while threatening new elections if no partner emerged [2][3][13]. "If necessary there'll just be new elections, then we'd just get 50 or 55%," Siegmund said [5]. AfD co-leader Alice Weidel described the result as giving the party a "clear government mandate" [13][24], and AfD national co-leader Tino Chrupalla said voters had "definitively rejected" the firewall [2].
The state branch of the AfD is classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization by Saxony-Anhalt's Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz) [2][3][41]. CDU General Secretary Franziska Hoppermann called the result "a very difficult result for us" and ruled out cooperation with the AfD, citing its "serious antisemitism problem" and fundamentally different vision of society [24][33]. Conservative parliamentary faction chief Thorsten Frei noted that a party classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist had never before won a majority [33]. Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg warned that "not everyone who votes or is elected democratically is a democrat" and that democracy has the potential to abolish itself [13][31]. Holocaust survivor Charlotte Knobloch, head of the Jewish community in Munich and Bavaria, said: "On days like this I find it hard to recognise my homeland any more" [5].
The BSW's five seats make it the decisive force in coalition formation. BSW co-chair Amira Mohamed Ali said the party would vote for neither Siegmund nor CDU incumbent Sven Schulze, instead backing a nonpartisan premier [4][33]. BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht declared that "the policy of keeping the AfD out of government has failed" and that constructing another coalition to exclude the AfD "would be an affront to voters" [7][27]. BSW lead candidate Claudia Wittig said it would be undemocratic to exclude the AfD from government after its electoral success [23][37]. Historian Andreas Rödder, associated with the CDU, warned that the cordon sanitaire had not weakened the AfD but made it stronger, while historian Bernd Rother, associated with the SPD, argued that repeatedly invoking historical lessons cannot substitute for democratic politics that address voters' current concerns [10].
The result was widely read as a verdict on Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the governing establishment. Political scientist Wolfgang Schroeder of Kassel University said Merz's critics would become more vocal and calls for better leadership impossible to ignore [8]. SPD national leader Lars Klingbeil described the outcome as "truly dramatic" and a signal to Berlin [5][33]. Chancellery head Nina Warken called the result a "watershed moment" for the CDU [6]. Siegmund credited Merz as "a very good campaigner for us in this election campaign," adding that "every day this man is in the chancellery is one too many" [24]. Hurriyet reported that a New York Times analysis warned the result could radically change EU politics and that Germany needs not just a different chancellor but a different approach [32].
International figures aligned with the nationalist right celebrated the result. US President Donald Trump posted a screenshot of the German TV projection on Truth Social without caption [5][17]. Elon Musk wrote "Gut gemacht!" (Well done!) on X, and Siegmund sent him "beste Grüße" (best regards) with an offer of cooperation [7][27][28]. Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev praised a "historic win for the pragmatic AfD" [5][39]. Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini wrote "Complimenti all'amica Alice Weidel e a tutta AfD per il trionfo in Sassonia-Anhalt!" (Congratulations to friend Alice Weidel and all of AfD for the triumph in Saxony-Anhalt!) [51]. Spain's Vox leader Santiago Abascal called the result "a great hope for Germany and for Europe" [39].
Other international figures expressed alarm. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that "in Poland only idiots and traitors can rejoice at the triumph of the AfD" [5]. French opposition leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon warned that "the far right is back in Germany" and said a German-led European conventional army would be unacceptable to France under these conditions [18][52]. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called it "una pessima notizia" (a very bad piece of news) [51]. France's Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad called the result "a serious moment in Europe" and urged listening "with humility to the anger, the concerns, the fears" of voters [7][27].
Security-focused voices warned of risks from an AfD-led state government. Thuringia's Interior Minister Georg Maier stated that the Kremlin "makes no secret of the fact that the AfD is the most important instrument for destabilising Germany for [Vladimir] Putin" [2][8]. Ukrainian outlet European Pravda reported that Berlin was considering excluding AfD ministers from classified intelligence exchanges, and that Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had advocated such measures [48]. The Kyiv Independent reported that Siegmund pledged to cut support for Ukrainian refugees and redevelop educational ties with Russia [17]. Weidel said the AfD wants "good relations with our neighbors, with the United States, and also with Russia" [17].
Sociologists and economists explained the result through structural conditions in eastern Germany. Sociologist Steffen Mau said 60 percent of eastern Germans perceive themselves as "second-class citizens" and that the AfD reverses that inferiority complex by telling them they are the avant-garde [36]. The German Economic Institute warned that the AfD's anti-immigration policy would be "calamitous" for Saxony-Anhalt, whose ageing, shrinking population depends heavily on foreign workers [13][31]. Economist Michael Hüther, director of the German Institute for Economic Research, said that without immigration the state's working-age population would fall by about a quarter by 2045 [21]. Étienne Dubslaff, a senior lecturer at Paris Nanterre University, observed that the high 78 percent turnout did not weaken the AfD, as the party performed even better than polls predicted [22].
Migrants and minorities in Saxony-Anhalt described fear and hostility following the result. Syrian-born chief physician Ayman al-Yusuf at a Quedlinburg clinic said he feared hatred of foreigners would spread and that he would leave if the climate turned hostile [45]. Clinic director Matthias Vuth stated that without highly qualified colleagues of foreign origin the hospital would have to close [45]. Afghan migrant Ridwan Talash said people had already left through his support group because the situation may become unsafe [45]. Turkish-German business owner Hamdi Kayısı said the AfD's program would take German society back a hundred years [46]. Gökay Sofuoğlu, federal co-chair of the Turkish Community in Germany (TGD), asked the federal and state governments to act before threats turn into violence [47]. Anti-AfD demonstrator Laura Saalfeld said that "regardless of results, the atmosphere will change" and far-right sympathizers would show themselves more openly [8].
Coalition negotiations remain unresolved. The CDU, SPD, Greens, and Left party have refused to cooperate with the AfD, while the BSW has refused to back either Schulze or Siegmund as minister-president [23][37]. Political scientist Alex Yusupov wrote that the seat distribution leaves no bloc with a clear winning strategy [19]. If no minister-president is elected within a set number of ballots, the state constitution provides for new elections [23]. Further state elections are scheduled in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on September 20 [34].