CNN – For the first time since 1945 a German far-right party is projected to win in regional elections, exit polls show.
Founded in 2013, far-right Alternative für Deutschland – or Alternative for Germany (AfD) – is on track to claim victory in state parliamentary elections in the country’s eastern region of Thuringia, initial exit polls by German state broadcaster ZDF show.
AfD is projected to get 33.5% of the vote, well ahead of the conservative party Christian Democrats (CDU) with 24.5%, according to ZDF.
In Saxony, which also held a regional election Sunday, the two parties are neck and neck, according to state broadcaster ZDF.
Newly founded left-wing party, the Sarah Wagenknecht alliance – or BSW – looks to be coming in third in both Thuringia and Saxony, where roughly 1.7 million people and 3.3 million were eligible to vote, respectively.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) is projected to get disappointing results in both states.
AfD co-chair Alice Weisel called the results in Thuringia a “historic success,” reflecting the people’s “rejection” of Scholz’s coalition government.
“This is an even stronger result than in the last elections and, accordingly, we will of course emerge stronger from the elections,” she said.
