AfD Poised to Lead First German State Government Since WWII

Germany's far-right Alternative für Deutschland, second-place finisher in 2025 federal elections, now leads Chancellor Merz's conservatives in mid-2026 polling. Economic stagnation has strengthened its position. The party is positioned to take power in eastern Saxony-Anhalt, marking the first time a far-right party would control a state government since postwar Germany's founding. Mainstream parties maintain formal coalition bans against the AfD, but those rules do not bind arithmetic at the state level.