In Brandenburg, Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke’s Social Democrats (SPD) pulled off a narrow victory over the Alternative for Germany (AfD), but the AfD gained a blocking minority and massively increased its vote share.
At the same time, the Left Party, the Greens, and the Free Democrats (FDP) suffered shocking losses, which saw them all removed from state parliament. The other big winner of the election night is the left-wing BSW.
The results show the SPD with 30.9 percent and the AfD with 29.2 percent, while the BSW scored 13.5 percent and the CDU 12 percent. The Greens missed out on scoring 5 percent, thus also failing to win a basic mandate, which means they are completely out of state parliament.
The election also saw the AfD secure 30 seats, which will give them a blocking minority in state parliament for votes that require two-thirds from state parliament, such as electing constitutional judges.
Exit polls show that the AfD won nearly every major demographic group, including young people, while the elderly were the ones who strongly turned against them. For those 70 and older, 50 percent voted for the SPD and only 17 percent for the AfD.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, chairman of the SPD, expressed his satisfaction with the exit poll results. The chancellor said in New York that “the mood is good” in his party.
The results may threaten the ruling coalition, with the Greens and FDP performing so poorly, it may place pressure on the FDP to pursue early elections.
