On September 6, 2026, the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, won a landslide victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. According to preliminary official results, the AfD captured 43.8 percent of the vote, compared with just 17.2 percent for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union, or CDU. The AfD secured 39 of the 83 seats in the state parliament, leaving it only three seats short of an outright majority.

The victory builds on gains the AfD has made across eastern Germany. In 2024, it finished first in the state election in Thuringia with about 33 percent of the vote, becoming the first far-right party to win a German state election since World War II.

The Saxony-Anhalt win represents one of the strongest performances by a far-right party in Germany’s postwar history. AfD’s victory raises an important question, whether the political barriers that have kept the AfD out of government can continue to hold. The result was particularly striking because the AfD received roughly twice the support it won in Saxony-Anhalt five years earlier.

Several factors contributed to the AfD success. The AfD has capitalized on frustration over immigration, economic stagnation, demographic decline, and lingering economic differences between eastern and western Germany. It has also benefited from dissatisfaction with the established parties and Chancellor Merz’s government. The AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt organization, meanwhile, has been classified as a right-wing extremist organization by the state domestic intelligence agency, a designation the party disputes.

The immediate question is whether AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund can actually form a government. Germany’s mainstream parties have maintained a political firewall, refusing to enter coalitions with the AfD. Merz reaffirmed that position after the election. Because the AfD lacks a majority, however, it would need support or abstentions from another party or individual lawmakers to put Siegmund into office. If that happened, Germany could have its first far-right-led state government since the regime of Adolf Hitler.

The consequences of the election could resonate across Germany and Europe. The election result will likely place enormous pressure on Germany’s traditional parties. Continually assembling broad coalitions simply to exclude the AfD may become more difficult as the party’s vote share increases. The result also undermines Merz, who had promised to reduce the AfD’s appeal but instead faces a party that is becoming an increasingly serious competitor to the CDU.

For Europe, the victory provides encouragement to nationalist and populist parties that have gained strength in several countries. AfD positions, including tougher immigration policies, skepticism toward European integration, opposition to German military assistance for Ukraine, and support for improved relations with Russia, also conflict with important elements of the European Union’s stated policy objectives.

The Saxony-Anhalt election results demonstrate how rapidly the boundaries of German politics are changing. Germany spent decades developing particularly strong political taboos against the far right because of its Nazi past. The AfD’s ability to win nearly 44 percent of the vote shows that those barriers are weakening.

Whether the party actually enters government or remains isolated, its growing electoral power means it is increasingly capable of shaping debates over immigration, Europe, Ukraine, and Germany’s political future. AFD’s success could encourage similar movements in other European countries to become more vocal and aggressive politically.