The right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has crossed the 40% mark in a regional poll for the first time—an unprecedented result that signals a major political shift.
According to a survey conducted by the INSA for the news portal Nius, the AfD would achieve 40% if state elections in Saxony-Anhalt were held this Sunday. This represents a ten-point increase since June and the highest level ever recorded for the party in any German state. The governing CDU follows at a distant 26%, losing eight points, while the Left Party stagnates at 11%. The SPD and the left-wing nationalist Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) stand at 6% each. The Greens and the liberal FDP would fail to enter parliament with only 3%.
The poll comes less than a year before Saxony-Anhalt’s 2026 state elections. With this result, the state would face difficult coalition negotiations. A government without the AfD would only be mathematically possible through a four-party coalition of the CDU, SPD, Left Party, and BSW—an unstable alliance. The CDU, however, has ruled out cooperation with both the AfD and the Left Party, making any such coalition impossible.
The AfD’s support is not limited to Saxony-Anhalt—the right-wing party has also reached record highs across the country, topping a recent INSA poll with the highest ever figure recorded by the institute. Analysts from INSA note that the party’s base of “certain to vote” supporters has grown significantly.
AfD parliamentary group leader Ulrich Siegmund–the party’s top candidate for the 2026 state election–expressed confidence following the new figures:
We are ready to take responsibility for this state, and that is exactly what the citizens want. Aware that a poll is not yet an election, we will steadfastly continue our course to convince even more people in Saxony-Anhalt of our program and our positive vision for our federal state by September.
