By Janina Bau, Research Manager
The state election in Saxony-Anhalt on the 6th of September 2026 marked a significant development in Germany’s political landscape. The far-right party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), reached 43.8%, while the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) reached 17.02%. However, despite the big success of the AfD, the outcome will not be enough for the AfD to form a government, which is due to the fact that all other parties refused collaboration and the formation of a coalition with the AfD.
Looking at the AfD and its success, there is a clear difference between Eastern and Western Germany. This was especially seen during the federal elections in 2025. While 31% of voters in eastern Germany voted for the AfD, only 18% voted the AfD in the Western part of Germany. This shows a significant regional difference in support of the party. But how can we explain this difference?
Why Voters Support the AfD
To understand voting patterns, we need to first take a look at the reasons why voters support the AfD.
According to a recent Insa survey, 44% of the survey respondents expressed their dissatisfaction with the current federal government. This group of voters are often described as protest voters, whose support for the AfD is a form of protest against the current government and its policies. This is followed by the reason of rejecting immigration, mentioned by 40% of the survey participants. Additionally, 36% of survey participants identified an overlap of personal values with values supported by the party. Out of these 36%, there is also a clear difference between men and women, with 40% of men and 31% of women indicating an overlap of values.
The Role of Emotional Political Communication
These motivations are also used by the party for its own rhetoric and online presence. Looking at recent online communication by the co-chair Alice Weidel, the party is calling for stricter policies against what they refer to as “Islamic terror” and “security interest of the public”. Furthermore, the party is calling for a change in migration through stricter limitation of the number of migrants and the pushback of migrants from what it call “culturally alienated countries.” Moreover, the slogan “Time for Germany” also clearly indicates the AfD’s strong focus on its connection to the public by putting Germany first, reminiscent of the language used by the MAGA movement in the United States. The party further describes its ultimate goal of putting Germany first by putting German citizens and their interests first, which the party puts in direct relation to the current inflation in the country and using payments by the German federal government to support countries in conflict and war zones, Ukraine being one such scapegoat. The party is using this instrument to create fear within the German population of increasing prices and is furthermore arguing that the current federal government does not take the interest of its people into account when making decisions due to financial aid to external countries.
To further emphasize its urge to act, the party is showcasing short messages on its website, including one titled “Finally Free in my own Country” supported by an AI generated image of a white woman dancing and “Time for our own culture” showing an AI generated image of a white, blonde woman holding a beer. Through these images, the AfD is communicating to its potential voters, that citizens are currently not free and safe which would change when the AfD would be in power on a federal level. Furthermore, the images represent the preservation of the German culture, including the beer culture and traditions. In addition to this, these images show an explicit racial bias by representing white women only, which furthermore idealizes the image of a German woman as being white. All of these examples show how the AfD is responding to concerns about migrants and the fear of foreign culture, presenting themselves as safeguarding German traditions and protecting the public from undocumented migrants. These images furthermore show how the party is using AI generated images for their own benefit and raising further questions of responsible use of AI. The use of AI generated images is also reinforcing the party’s view through using existing bias of AI in regards to gender by representing traditional gender roles with the woman as a wife and caretaker as well as ethnicity by reproducing racial bias and mostly producing and using images with white people.
Furthermore, the website displays testimonials from citizens highlighting their frustrations, including a father expressing anger about the current government and the high energy costs affecting families. The AfD replied directly to the testimony by arguing to support families and lowering energy costs through its programme. All of the listed testimonies highlight the fear of the future and losing their assets. This underlines the strong use of emotions in political campaigns and the AfD presenting itself as an alternative to existing policies.
Alice Weidel: Political Leadership and Public Image
The AfD co-chair Alice Weidel’s public image and political leadership provides another perspective on the party’s political communication. Weidel presents herself as a professional and established political figure, while her rhetoric and political positions reflect the AfD’s increasingly radical political direction.
Her public image also contrasts with some of the positions advocated by her party. The AfD promotes a traditional understanding of family, consisting of the men representing the father figure and the woman representing motherhood while opposing any other constellation of families. However, Alice Weidel is married to a woman originally from Sri Lanka, in opposite to the idea of family expressed by her own party, the AfD. When questioned about this apparent contradiction, Weidel has rejected identifying as queer. Additionally, Alice Weidel is residing in Switzerland leading to criticism as many argue that the policies she is in support of would not affect her directly due to her main residence being outside of Germany.
This contrast illustrates the distinction between Weidel’s personal circumstances and the political positions she represents. However, while her public profile is an important aspect of the AfD’s political communication, the extent to which it contributes to the party’s electoral success cannot be established from these observations alone.
Why the AfD Is More Successful in Eastern Germany
Part of the reason for AfD’s success, particularly in Eastern Germany, lies in the history of Germany. Since the official reunification of Germany in 1990, many people moved from eastern to western Germany, which resulted in fewer skilled workers in the east. Furthermore, the per capita gross domestic product is lower in the east than in the west also linking to a lower concentration of research and innovation institutions in the East compared to the West, and fewer companies having their headquarters in the East of Germany. In addition to this, personal income in the east is lower than in the west of Germany, as are pensions. Additionally, there is a clear disparity in assets, including financial and property, since the population in the west tends to have more assets than their compatriots in the east. All of these economic reasons may contribute to political dissatisfaction and can potentially be part of the explanation of the success of the AfD.
Another explanation is the gender gap between the East and West of Germany. As previously mentioned, a higher number of men see an overlap of values between their own and values of the party. According to recent data by the Federal Statistical Office from August 2026, there are proportionally more men than women living in Germany. However, the largest sex disparities are found in eastern Germany with Saxony-Anhalt having the highest gap, especially in the group of 18-29 year olds, with 856 women to 1000 men, followed by Brandenburg and Thuringia. This may be one contributing factor for the difference of voting behaviour between the east and west of Germany.
What the East–West Divide Reveals About German Politics
The recent success of the AfD in the state of Saxony-Anhalt highlights significant regional differences in political support between eastern and western Germany. This analysis shows that several factors may underlie these differences. Economic differences, political dissatisfaction, demographic differences and historical implications may all contribute to differences in voting behaviour. At the same time, the AfD is incorporating concerns about migration, economic insecurity and dissatisfaction with current policies in their political communication.
Ultimately, the AfD’s success in eastern Germany raises broader questions about political representation, public trust and the relationship between regional inequalities and voting behaviour. Understanding these developments remains important for assessing the challenges facing German politics, particularly following Germany’s anniversary of reunification on 3 October.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Tessera Institute for Global Affairs.
References
AfD (n.d.) Alternative für Deutschland. Available at: https://www.afd.de/ (Accessed: 28 September 2026).
Berliner Morgenpost (n.d.) AfD: Warum wird sie gewählt? Umfrage offenbart wichtigsten Grund. Available at: https://www.morgenpost.de/politik/article411662608/warum-wird-die-afd-gewaehlt-umfrage-offenbart-wichtigsten-grund.html (Accessed: 28 September 2026).
BWU (2026) Wahlverhalten Ost vs. West: Parteipräferenzen & historische Gründe. Bundestagswahlumfrage.de. Available at: https://www.bundestagwahlumfrage.de/ratgeber/wahlen/ost-west-wahlverhalten/ (Accessed: 28 September 2026).
Destatis (2026) Männer sind in jüngeren Altersgruppen in der Überzahl, Frauen in älteren. Press release, 31 August. Available at: https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2026/08/PD26_N060_12.html (Accessed: 28 September 2026).
Kurz, J. (2025) ‘AfD-Kandidatin Weidel: Radikal mit bürgerlichem Anstrich’, Tagesschau, 24 January 2025. Available at: https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/bundestagswahl/parteien/portraet-alice-weidel-100.html (Accessed: 28 September 2026).
NDR (2025) Die Grenze in den Daten: Ost-West-Unterschiede nach 35 Jahren. 2 October. Available at: https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/ndrdata/die-grenze-in-daten-ost-west-unterschiede-nach-35-jahren,deutscheeinheit-104.html (Accessed: 28 September 2026).
WDR (2026) AfD gewinnt Landtagswahl deutlich mit – CDU halbiert. Available at: https://www1.wdr.de/politik/wahlen/afd-gewinnt-landtagswahl-in-sachsen-anhalt-klar-100.html (Accessed: 28 September 2026).
