Amid sky-high polling figures for the AfD that have the country’s establishment spooked, a new opinion survey that examined the demographic profiles of those who support the conservative, anti-globalist party revealed that, unlike before, they come from all social classes, ages, and education groups.
Whereas in past years the demographic profile of the party’s supporters tended to be older, less educated, and under-employed, now, according to an opinion survey carried out by the Institute for New Social Answers (INSA)—a prestigious German political and market research firm—AfD voters and sympathizers, people whom the Thuringian state spy boss calls the ‘brown dregs of German society’ are increasingly young, educated, and wealthy.
Figures revealed that, among those between the ages of 18 and 29 years old who were surveyed, 33% reported that they can imagine voting for the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party. Among voters aged 30-39 years old and 50-59 years old, that figure increased to 43% and 42%, respectively, while 35% of voters between the ages of 40 and 49 said they would consider voting for the party.
With respect to education levels, levels of support for the AfD were comparable among the different cohorts, with 33% to 34% of those with high school diplomas, secondary school diplomas, and university degrees all saying they can imagine voting for the party.
Regarding income level, the survey’s figures showed that Germans making more than €4,000 per month were most likely to be the most willing to support the AfD, at 42%.
The INSA survey also examined how supporters of other parties view the AfD. It found that voters of the liberal, pro-business Free Democrats Party (FDP) were most likely to defect to the AfD, with 41% of those surveyed saying they can imagine switching party allegiances in the future. The figure among Left Party voters is 33%, while those from Chancellor Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) were least likely to consider switching party allegiances.
Contrary to popular belief, the AfD has more parliamentary group members with migration backgrounds (7.2%) than the CDU/CSU (4.1%) or the FDP (5.4%), according to research by the Integration Media Service.
Hessian AfD chairman Robert Lambrou, last month, founded an association called “With a migration background for Germany.” He says: “It is a widespread misconception in Germany that people with a migration background are fundamentally left-wing politically.”
Through the formation of this new association, Lambrou, and his fellow AfD colleagues hope to “advertise to well-integrated people with an immigrant background to join the AfD and invite those who share our values and beliefs to join us.”
Amid the rise of the AfD, which over the past weeks has seen the party secure its first district administrator and mayor, Germany’s establishment politicians looking to maintain the status quo have come out strongly against the party.
The leader of the European People’s Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, a German politician for the CSU, on Sunday, July 9th, told the Funke media group that AfD “is not only a political competitor but an opponent and an enemy.”
Germany’s Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, meanwhile in an interview with ZDF on the same day, called the surge in support for the AfD a “worrying” development.
Thomas Haldenwang, the head of the BfV, Germany’s federal intelligence agency, has even gone so far as to warn Germans not to vote for the AfD.
