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Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a landslide victory in a key regional election Sunday in the ex-communist east, a result viewed as a stinging rebuke for Chancellor Friedrich Merz but appeared set to miss out on an absolute majority to govern alone.
"We have made history today," a jubilant Ulrich Siegmund, the 35-year-old lead candidate of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party in Saxony-Anhalt state, said as the vote count continued.
The AfD claimed 44% of the vote, more than doubling its support, and far ahead of the around 18% for the centre-right Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) of Merz, according to projections by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.
Siegmund hopes to become state premier and lead a political revolution from Saxony-Anhalt that could propel the party to national victory in 2029.
AfD's national co-leader Alice Weidel called her party's result "sensational" and said the party had "received a very clear mandate to govern" in Saxony-Anhalt.
The victory put AfD within reach of running its first-ever state government, though the party is officially listed as "right-wing extremist" by Germany's domestic intelligence agency.
"For the first time since the end of World War II, the AfD, a party whose state branch is classified as right-wing extremist, is close to securing an absolute majority," said Daniel Guenther, the CDU premier of Schleswig-Holstein state. "This is a shocking moment for our country."
The prospect of a far-right state government drew thousands of the AfD's opponents to a rally on Saturday in the regional capital Magdeburg, with banners reading "life is better without Nazis".
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