Gains but no triumph for a far-right German party in local elections in an eastern state

Julian Vonarb, Lord Mayor of Gera, comes to cast his vote for Thuringia local elections, at a polling station in Gera, germany, Sunday, May 26, 2024. Voters sit behind polling booths at a polling station set for Thuringia local elections in Gera, Germany Sunday, May 26, 2024. The local elections in Thuringia include elections for mayors, district councillors, city councillors and municipal councillors.

Official results with about four-fifths of districts counted on Monday showed Alternative for Germany, or AfD, gaining nearly nine points compared with 2019 to take some 26% of the vote across the state in elections for councilors. However, it remained a little behind the center-right Christian Democratic Union, Germany’s main national opposition party, whose support was more or less unchanged.

Nine AfD candidates either qualified for runoff votes on June 9 or appeared set to, largely against CDU rivals, though there was only one county where the far-right party enjoyed a small lead going into the runoff vote for head of the local administration. Observers suspect AfD is likely to lose the runoff votes as mainstream parties’ supporters give their votes to its rivals. While it has built a strong core of support, AfD has had a turbulent few weeks, partly a result of scandals surroundingEarlier this month, a court ruled that Höcke, an influential figure on the party’s hard right, knowingly used a Nazi slogan in a 2021 speech and ordered him to pay a fine totaling 13,000 euros . His lawyers are appealing.

Germany Government Germany General News Global Elections World News I Politics Run-Off Elections Voting World News

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

EUR/GBP posts modest gains above 0.8500 following German Retail Sales dataThe EUR/GBP cross posts modest gains around 0.8535 during the early European trading hours on Tuesday.
Source: FXStreetNews - 🏆 14. / 72 Read more »

Far-right grouping in European Parliament expels high-flying Alternative for Germany partyA German far-right party set for big gains in upcoming European elections has suffered another setback after it was expelled from a right-wing group in the European Parliament
Source: sdut - 🏆 5. / 95 Read more »

Far-right grouping in European Parliament expels high-flying Alternative for Germany partyA German far-right party set for big gains in upcoming European elections has suffered another setback after it was expelled from a right-wing group in the European Parliament. The Identity and Democracy group decided to expel Alternative for Germany from the group with immediate effect. Alternative for Germany said it “acknowledged” the decision.
Source: AP - 🏆 728. / 51 Read more »

German far-right party bans its top European election candidate from campaigning after Nazi remarkGermany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party has banned its top candidate for next month’s European election from making any more campaign appearances and said he would resign from the party’s board immediately
Source: sdut - 🏆 5. / 95 Read more »

German court upholds intelligence agency's labeling of far-right party as suspected extremist caseA court has ruled that Germany’s domestic intelligence agency was justified in putting the Alternative for Germany party under observation for suspected extremism.
Source: FoxNews - 🏆 9. / 87 Read more »

German court backs intelligence agency's designation of far-right party as suspected extremist caseA court has ruled that Germany’s domestic intelligence agency was justified in designating the far-right Alternative for Germany as a suspected case of extremism, rejecting an appeal from the opposition party
Source: sdut - 🏆 5. / 95 Read more »