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Gone quiet · last update Oct 6, 2026 / Alternative for Germany

The far right's state election win in Germany and Merz's response

Overview · reviewed October 28, 2026

In September 2026 the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, surged to first place in a state election in Saxony-Anhalt, putting a far-right party within reach of power at the state level for the first time since World War II.[1][2] Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose center-right Christian Democrats suffered what he called a "disaster" in regional voting that month, doubled down on his economic reforms and confronted the AfD, while rebuffing President Donald Trump's celebration of its win.[3][2][4]

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Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose center-right Christian Democrats suffered what he called a "disaster" in regional voting that month, doubled down on his economic reforms and confronted the AfD, while rebuffing President Donald Trump's celebration of its win.[3][2][4]

Coverage over time

Share of tracked outlets · weekly (UTC)

Week of 2026-09-07 (UTC): 2%, 9 of 480 tracked outlets (2 left, 5 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-09-14 (UTC): 5%, 25 of 480 tracked outlets (6 left, 17 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-09-21 (UTC): 5%, 24 of 479 tracked outlets (7 left, 12 center, 5 right)Week of 2026-09-28 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-05 (UTC): under 1%, 1 of 479 tracked outlets (1 left, 0 center, 0 right)Week of 2026-10-12 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-19 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-26 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-11-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-11-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outlets, so far

LeftCenterRight

Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings.We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 8 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.

Weekly counts, outlets and reports (4 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)LeftCenterRightOf trackedShareReceipts
Oct 5, 20261001 of 479under 1%
Sep 21, 2026712524 of 4795%
Sep 14, 2026617225 of 4805%
Sep 7, 20262529 of 4802%

Latest coverage

The newest reporting in this story's record.

  1. Oct 6, 2026 · first reported · Headline from The Boston Globe

    Germany’s far right claims its first statehouse speaker since 1945

Background

The vote in the small eastern state was seen as a test with consequences for Merz's federal government.[5] After the AfD's landslide, Merz said he would push ahead with unpopular reforms,[2] and in he accused the party of promoting "ethnic cleansing" as he stonewalled Trump over his praise for it.[4] The AfD's rise alarmed even other far-right parties in Europe,[6] and in October it became the first far-right party since World War II to win the speakership of a German regional parliament, with Tobias Rausch taking the post in Saxony-Anhalt.[7]

Supporting stories (7)
  1. Can the AfD form a government in Saxony-Anhalt?
  2. Germany's Merz shocked by far-right state election triumph but doubles down on unpopular reforms
  3. How will Germany's Merz respond after crushing state election results and losses to the far right?
  4. Merz accuses AfD of ‘ethnic cleansing’ policy and cancels call with Trump
  5. Germany set to feel the impact of Saxony-Anhalt's AfD win
  6. Germany’s AfD is so extreme they are putting off other far-right parties
  7. Germany's far-right AfD makes history again in Saxony-Anhalt

The full record

Each date is when an update was first reported.

All 7 recorded updates

October 2026

  1. Germany's far-right AfD makes history again in Saxony-AnhaltHeadline from Deutsche Welle · 5 outlets

September 2026

  1. Germany’s AfD is so extreme they are putting off other far-right partiesHeadline from KVIA El Paso · 8 outlets
  2. How will Germany's Merz respond after crushing state election results and losses to the far right?Headline from Deutsche Welle · 43 outlets
  3. Merz accuses AfD of ‘ethnic cleansing’ policy and cancels call with TrumpHeadline from The Guardian · 5 outlets
  4. Germany's Merz shocked by far-right state election triumph but doubles down on unpopular reformsHeadline from WFMZ Allentown · 9 outlets
  5. Germany set to feel the impact of Saxony-Anhalt's AfD winHeadline from Deutsche Welle · 1 outlet
  6. Can the AfD form a government in Saxony-Anhalt?Headline from Deutsche Welle · 2 outlets

Coverage & sources

Read the reports, see how much was collected over time, or compare outlets by political leaning.

Coverage & sources →