Far right appears to fall short of power in new German elections

By JIM TANKERSLEY

Just two weeks after the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, scored a stunning victory in the small eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, German voters in two other regions voted Sunday and delivered a new gauge of the AfD’s national prospects.

Voters in Berlin and in a lightly populated coastal corner of the former East Germany, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, elected new state parliaments. Exit polls released after voting ended showed the AfD was on track to improve its performance in both states but not come close to governing either area.

The polls suggested that the AfD would finish first in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania but not take power, because other parties refuse to work with it to form a government. The far-left party Die Linke appeared to be winning Berlin handily, outperforming its preelection polls, and could lead the next government there.

The AfD’s leaders have used Nazi slogans and played down the significance of the Holocaust, and German intelligence has classified the party as a “suspected extremist” group. Yet it has harnessed voter anxiety over the economy and immigration, as well as the widespread unpopularity of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a mainstream conservative.

In both regions, the AfD fell short of its performance in Saxony-Anhalt, where it won 44% of the vote and could soon form a government. In Berlin, it finished well below expectations, based on preelection polls.

Election officials said Sunday that turnout was running higher than usual. 

Much of what fueled the AfD’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt is also present in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, a state of 1.5 million residents. Unemployment there is higher than the national average, as in Saxony-Anhalt. Residents still resent how eastern Germany struggled after the reunification of Germany in 1990. And many are sympathetic to Russia and wary of immigration, which surged in Germany during the European migration a decade ago.

The AfD celebrated its gains but appeared on track for only a narrow win in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, which has a rarity for eastern Germany today: a popular leader from a mainstream party.