AfD wins Saxony-Anhalt vote, eyes minister-president post

The far-right AfD party won 43.8% of the vote in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, positioning its candidate Ulrich Siegmund to potentially become the state's first AfD minister-president, though the party fell short of an absolute majority. The AfD is seeking to form a government through support from other parties or individual lawmakers, with the BSW party indicating it may help Siegmund win in a third round of voting. Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU suffered a historic defeat, losing all 41 direct mandates. European right-wing populists celebrated the result, while the CDU's Markus Söder acknowledged the AfD's mandate. Exit polls showed 61% of workers voted AfD, with immigration and rising prices cited as key voter concerns.