AfD triples its result in local elections in Lower Saxony
In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party received 15.9% of the vote in local elections in Lower Saxony, more than tripling its 2021 result of 4.6%. According to preliminary results, the party came third, while the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won. This was reported by the Jerusalem Post.
Voting results
The CDU, the party of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, received 27.2% of the vote, compared with 31.7% in the 2021 elections. The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), which leads the state’s coalition government, came second with 24.6% of the vote, compared with 30% in the previous election.
The Greens, the SPD’s junior partner in the state coalition, received 14.1% of the vote. In the previous election, their result was 15.9%. Turnout rose to 64.6%, compared with 57% in 2021.
Results in Salzgitter
In the industrial city of Salzgitter, AfD candidate Patricia Mayr advanced to the second round of the mayoral election, where she will compete against incumbent CDU mayor Frank Klingebiel.
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The AfD also became the largest faction in Salzgitter’s city council. According to projections, it will receive 13 seats, the SPD 12, and the CDU 11.
Significance of the local elections
The elections determined mayors, district administrators and representatives of local councils. Lower Saxony is a large western region of Germany with a population of about 8 million, where Volkswagen operates.
AfD’s head in Lower Saxony, Ansgar Schledde, said that his party was the clear winner of the election night. According to him, the AfD is now represented in all district councils, councils of district-free cities, as well as in hundreds of municipal and city councils.
Germany’s main centrist parties refuse to form coalitions with the AfD at the federal and state levels. The party advocates the deportation of refugees, opposes multiculturalism, supports social conservatism and favors reducing the role of Holocaust remembrance culture.
