Germany’s Far-Right AfD Wins First City Mayoral Election

A candidate from Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) won a city’s mayoral election for the first time on December 17. Tim Lochner was elected after securing 38.5 percent of the vote in the second round of voting in Pirna, a town in the east German state of Saxony.

It’s very, very important for the AfD. It allows them to show that they can take responsibility at a municipal level.
—Benjamin Höhne, political scientist

The result came just over a week after Saxony’s domestic intelligence agency classified the AfD as a right-wing extremist organization.

AfD on the rise: When the AfD was founded 10 years ago, it was viewed as extreme and garnered only a tiny percentage of German votes. But the party has been gaining popularity rapidly, with 1 in 5 saying they would vote for the AfD if elections were held now. It is now the second-most popular party in Germany.

In June, the party won its first district council election in the Sonneberg district. In August, AfD politician Hannes Loth was elected as the first mayor of a municipality in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Sunday’s election marks the first time the AfD won the mayorship of a town.

Political shift: Germans are fed up with the government’s liberal policies. A growing number is shifting more and more toward the right. The Trumpet has long warned of such a political shift coming to Germany and the rest of Europe.

Learn more: Read “Is the Far Right Germany’s Future?”