AfD fails to gain ground
Ten right-wing extremists go into runoff elections in Thuringia
27.05.2024, 03:31 a.m.
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The CDU speaks of a “good day”, the Left Party at least expresses cautious relief: In the district council and mayoral elections in Thuringia, the AfD did not win a top office, at least in its first attempt. However, there will be run-off elections in many places.
The AfD failed to win the district and mayoral elections in Thuringia. The counting of the results for the local council elections is still ongoing overnight. In the district election in the Altenburger Land district, the AfD candidate received the most votes, but he has to go to the runoff. In some other districts, AfD candidates also made it to the runoff as runners-up.
A total of around 1.7 million people were called to vote in the local elections. Almost 7,500 seats in Thuringia’s local parliaments were up for grabs. In addition to district administrators, mayors and mayors, district councils, city and municipal councils were also elected. The local elections are also seen as a mood test for the state elections in Thuringia on September 1st. Beyond the state borders, the AfD’s performance is being watched in particular. The AfD is strongly anchored in some municipalities and won the first and so far only district administrator post in Thuringia last year. The Thuringian state association is classified by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as proven right-wing extremist.
On Sunday evening, the AfD only managed to come first in the district election for the district administrator in the Altenburger Land district. However, since its candidate Heiko Philipp missed the necessary absolute majority with 33.0 percent, a runoff election with the second-placed CDU candidate Uwe Melzer will decide the future district administrator in two weeks, at the same time as the European elections. Melzer received 32.2 percent.
Neo-Nazi in Hildburghausen in second place
In eight other districts, the AfD candidates were in second place in the evening according to the provisional final or interim results, which is why there will be run-off elections there too. In the district of Hildburghausen, the nationally known right-wing extremist and former NPD official Tommy Frenck made it to the run-off election with the candidate of the Free Voters, Sven Gregor. Frenck, who runs a trendy property in Kloster Veßra, was repeatedly mentioned in the report by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Frenck’s candidacy had already caused irritation before the election. According to the Thuringian Local Elections Act, no one can be elected district administrator or mayor “if they do not guarantee that they will always support the free democratic basic order in the sense of the Basic Law and the state constitution.” CDU representatives on the election committee nevertheless made Frenck’s candidacy possible.
Only in the district of Schmalkalden-Meiningen did the incumbent district administrator Peggy Greiser of the SPD win the election at the first attempt. According to the preliminary results, the incumbents Peter Kleine (independent) and André Knapp (CDU) won the mayoral elections in Weimar and Suhl. There were no AfD candidates in either city. In the three other independent cities of Erfurt, Gera and Jena, there will be run-off elections. In the state capital Erfurt, which has long been considered an SPD stronghold, the CDU man Andreas Horn came out ahead of Andreas Bausewein, who has been mayor since 2006.
In total, the district administrator positions need to be filled in 13 of the 17 Thuringian districts. In June last year, the AfD won the party’s first district administrator position nationwide in the Thuringian district of Sonneberg. In the district council elections, the right-wing extremists were also well ahead with 35.5 percent.
All Thuringians aged 16 and over were eligible to vote. A final result should be available on Monday at the earliest. If there is no majority, the necessary run-off elections will take place at the same time as the European elections on June 9.
“Brown grab for power” prevented
The CDU in Thuringia welcomed the interim results of the local elections. The CDU chairman and top candidate for the state elections on September 1, Mario Voigt, spoke of a “good day with sensible decisions for Thuringia”. He was convinced that the CDU would become “the strongest force in the state”.
For the Left Party, which is once again going into the state elections with Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow, party leader Ulrike Grosse-Röthig explained, with regard to the AfD’s lack of success, that Thuringia “did not turn blue all at once”. Voters had “prevented the brown party from seizing power in the first round of district and mayoral elections”.
SPD regional leader Georg Maier believes his party has been strengthened by the results of the local elections. “Social Democratic local politics has received a boost today,” said Maier, who is his party’s top candidate for the state elections. In the overall result, the SPD “became the third strongest force in Thuringia with over 16 percent.”
In polls for the state elections, the CDU was in second place with 20 percent, behind the AfD with around 30 percent. The Left and the BSW followed with around 16 percent each, ahead of the SPD with around eight percent and the Greens with five percent. The FDP was no longer seen in the state parliament. The Left, SPD and Greens currently form a minority government in Erfurt.