German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (cdu) came in a humiliating third place in a vote in Ms. Merkel’s home state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania on September 4. The party won 19 percent of the vote, coming behind the center-left Social Democrats (spd) and the anti-immigrant Alternative for Deutschland (AfD).

“This election—which was seen as a significant test ahead of next year’s general election—was all about her refugee policy,” wrote bbc. “For a year she’s insisted ‘Wir schaffen es’ (we can do it) but German voters aren’t convinced.”

Chancellor Merkel’s approval record is at a five-year low, at 45 percent, down from 67 percent a year ago.

“The strong performance of AfD is bitter for many, for everyone in our party,” cdu secretary general Peter Tauber said. “A sizeable number of people wanted to voice their displeasure and to protest. And we saw that particularly in discussions about refugees.”

But more than the party, the election is a personal blow for the chancellor. “This was a dark day for Merkel,” a political scientist at Cologne University, Thomas Jaeger, told Reuters. “Everyone knows that she lost this election. Her district in parliament is there, she campaigned there, and refugees are her issue.”

Spiegel Online wrote that “this state election was basically a vote about the chancellor, or more precisely, a Merkel-vote. This makes it very significant” (Trumpet translation throughout.)

“[I]t does not matter whether there is economic recovery, new pedestrian zones and many tourists,” wrote Spiegel Online. Despite the positives of Ms. Merkel’s leadership, “a party succeeds in fanning fears of refugees.”

“[M]any people are worried,” said German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. “A lot is storming from the outside on us,” he explained.

“Therefore there is an increasingly loud call among us for the strongman,” he warned. “This is a complex situation in which the desire for pithy and easy answers is stronger. Time for demagogues.”

The Bavarian Merkur newspaper noted that Schäuble’s speech sounded like an address from a wannabe chancellor. With Merkel’s numbers falling, has the competition to succeed her already begun?

This political unrest and desire for “the strongman” in Germany will have major implications for Europe and the world. For more on where this is leading, read our article “Germany, Migrants and the Big Lie.”