AfD wins 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt election as CDU faces internal revolt and Schulze takes faction lead

Power shift in Magdeburg

Two days after the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, the CDU state parliamentary group elected Minister-President Sven Schulze as its new faction leader in a contested vote. Schulze, aged 47, defeated incumbent leader Guido Heuer by eight votes to seven. The vote followed a sharp setback on Sunday, 6 September 2026, when the CDU finished second with 17.2% of the vote, roughly halving its prior support in its worst state result since reunification. The Alternative for Germany (AfD), classified as right-wing extremist by state intelligence, won 43.8% of the vote. The outcome reduced the CDU presence by 25 seats to 15 members in the 83-seat chamber.

The remaining seats in Magdeburg are distributed across five other parties. AfD captured 39 mandates, three seats short of an absolute majority. The Social Democrats (SPD), Die Linke, and the Greens secured eight seats each, while the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) won five seats in its first entry into the legislature. The CDU state association initiated a leadership transition for late November or early December. Bundestag member Sepp Müller announced his candidacy for state party chair, while Schulze noted that seeking the chairmanship is not his plan at the moment.

Rebellion inside the federal CDU

The election result triggered immediate fallout inside the federal Christian Democrats. Tino Schomann, the deputy CDU party chair in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and district administrator for Nordwestmecklenburg, called for the resignation of Chancellor Friedrich Merz following a joint press appearance held on Monday.

He has to get off the chair, and someone else has to get up there.

Schomann described the Monday press appearance as insincere and argued that Merz has lost public trust through administrative missteps. Rejecting snap federal elections, Schomann proposed internal replacements including Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder, and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. The criticism emerged one and a half weeks before the state election in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Schomann stated that he engages with all constitutional factions to secure reliable conditions for local government.

Public reaction and coalition hurdles

In a nationwide Civey survey for Focus, 54% of respondents evaluated the election result as bad for democracy in Germany, compared to 39% who viewed it favorably and 7% who remained undecided. Regarding quality of life in Saxony-Anhalt, 49% expected conditions to deteriorate under an AfD-led administration, while 34% anticipated improvements and 15% predicted no change. While 79% of surveyed citizens ruled out leaving Germany because of the vote, 13% stated they plan to move away. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel described the AfD win as a real turning point in German history.

Government formation outlook

Government formation in Magdeburg faces substantial obstacles because most established parties reject formal cooperation with AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund. While Siegmund invited rivals for exploratory talks, the CDU would require a broad multi-party coalition to sustain power. In the Civey survey, 29% of respondents favored a CDU coalition with the AfD, while an identical 29% rejected all tested coalition options. Schulze remains in office on an acting basis and expects negotiations between AfD and BSW to conclude after the upcoming vote in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

I am quite sure that at the latest after the state election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the AfD and BSW will tell the truth that they have long since reached an agreement.

Schulze stated that he expects a new state government to be voted into office during the first parliamentary session week in early October 2026.