Sigh of relief for the Chancellor Olaf Scholz. His party, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (Spd), has the advance was repelled of the far right of alternative for Germany (Afd), winning the regional elections of Brandenburg and maintaining control of the state for the eighth consecutive time. The party, led by the outgoing minister-president Dietmar Woidke, obtained 30,9% of the votes, surpassing AfD, which stopped at 29,2%. A setback for the AfD, which had come from two important victories in the recent elections in Thuringia and Saxony, while for Scholz it is a breath of fresh air in view of the federal elections of 28 September 2025. A possible defeat would have been interpreted as a bad omen.
“It was hard work, but we managed to prevent our state from being branded by the far right“, said President Woidke, who has been in office for 11 years.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also expressed satisfaction with the election result. “A great result for the SPD and for democracy. I felt that something was happening,” Scholz commented, highlighting the importance of the victory for his party ahead of the 2025 federal elections.
Important for the success was thehigh voter turnout, which reached 72,9%, a considerable increase compared to 2019. A sign of the electorate's growing interest in regional politics, especially in a context of the rise of populist and far-right forces.
Bitter defeat for AfD
Despite the success in the polls, theAfD has failed to oust SPD from first place in Brandenburg. The party, which had established itself as the main political force of the German far right, had hoped to repeat the triumphs obtained in the previous weeks. Its 29,2% of the vote, however, was not enough to overtake Scholz's party, marking a arrest in his political rise in Germany.
Alice Weidel, co-leader of the AfD, commented on the results by attributing the SPD's victory to "tactical votes" in favor of Woidke. "The East is blue. We are the real winners. The SPD is currently ahead only thanks to tactical votes in favor of Minister President Dietmar Woidke," Weidel said.
Another exploit for the red-brown party
Even in the Brandenburg elections, theSahra Wagenknecht Alliance (Bsw) has surprised again. This new left-wing populist party, born from dissidents of the far-left Die Linke and led by Sahra Wagenknecht, at his first participation, obtained a surprising 13,5% of the votes. With this result, the The "red-brown" party has established itself as the third political force in the state, overtaking the Christian Democrats of the CDU, who stopped at 12,1%, their worst result ever in Brandenburg.
Greens out of state parliament
I big losers of the vote in Brandenburg were the Greens and The Left, both of which failed to clear the 5% threshold needed to secure seats in the state parliament. The Greens, in particular, only won 4,3%, marking a sharp decline from the previous election. With the Greens out of the state parliament, the governing coalition may have to review its composition, currently formed by the SPD, CDU and the Greens. Possible options include an alliance between the SPD and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (Bsw), or a three-way coalition including the SPD, CDU and Bsw. However, none of the parties have expressed interest in working with the AfD, leaving the far-right party isolated despite its significant electoral strength.
