Scholz's party beats far-right AfD in east German state vote

POSTDAM

Brandenburg's State Premier and SPD top candidate in the regional elections in Brandenburg, Dietmar Woidke (C) looks on next to AfD top candidate Hans-Christoph Berndt (R) and CDU top candidate Jan Redmann (L) during an interview at the studio of German public broadcaster ARD during the electoral evening at the State Parliament (Landtag) in Potsdam, in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, on Sept. 22, 2024, after the publication of the exit polls in the regional state elections.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats narrowly beat the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a state election on Sept. 22 in the formerly communist east, a rare bit of good news for his party.

Scholz's center-left SPD won around 31 percent in the state of Brandenburg against the anti-immigration, pro-Russian AfD, which scored about 29 percent, projections by public broadcasters said.

The result offers some respite for Scholz's embattled coalition government, which has sunk in opinion polls a year ahead of national elections.

The vote in Brandenburg has been closely watched because Scholz's SPD has ruled there ever since Germany's 1990 reunification. The chancellor's own electoral district is in the state capital Potsdam, outside Berlin.

The AfD, which rails against asylum-seekers, multiculturalism, Islam and Scholz's three-party government, had hoped to replicate its recent electoral success in the east.

Three weeks ago, it stunned the political establishment by winning its first-ever parliamentary vote, in the eastern state of Thuringia, and coming a close second in neighboring Saxony.

Despite its ballot box success, the AfD is unlikely to take power in any state, as all other mainstream parties have so far ruled out entering into a governing alliance with the party.

Brandenburg's popular SPD state premier Dietmar Woidke had kept his distance from party colleague Scholz during the campaign.

In office for more than a decade, Woidke had also thrown down a challenge to voters, by telling them he would quit if the AfD won.

A visibly relieved Woidke basked in the applause from the party faithful, celebrating the close win in a race where just weeks ago his party had trailed the AfD in the opinion polls.

The goal, he said, had been to prevent Brandenburg from being marked with a "great, brown stamp," the color associated with fascism.

The message appeared to have energized voters, as turnout reached 74 percent.