The AfD’s highly controversial top candidate in Thuringia, Björn Höcke
The far-right, anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) is on the brink of a historic victory in Thuringia’s regional elections, according to exit polls reported by the BBC. Public broadcaster ARD’s exit poll shows AfD securing 30.5% of the vote, leading the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) by six percentage points. If confirmed, this would be the first time since World War II that a far-right party wins a state election in Germany.
AfD’s leading candidate in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, remains a highly controversial figure in Germany. His party has been deemed extremist, and Höcke himself was fined for using a Nazi slogan, though he denies doing so intentionally.
Exit polls also indicate that AfD performed strongly in Saxony, where they garnered 30% of the vote, trailing CDU by just 1.5 percentage points. This puts AfD in a historic position to potentially join a state government, although other parties have ruled out any coalition with the anti-immigration party.
Protests have already begun in Thuringia against AfD’s possible victory. Around 2,500 demonstrators gathered outside the state parliament in Erfurt. “We want to show that Thuringia has another side,” one organizer said, expressing concern over the far-right’s rise.
