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BERLIN — In a historic shift for German regional politics, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has notched its strongest electoral performance to date, propelled by the approach of 35-year-old party leader Ulrich Siegmund, who has worked to soften the group’s radical image while clinging to its core extremist positions. The party secured a resounding victory in Sunday’s regional election in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, but stopped just short of an outright majority, leaving its bid to form Germany’s first far-right state government since World War II hanging in the balance.

Siegmund, who was born just weeks after German reunification in October 1990, has emerged as a carefully cultivated public face for the AfD, blending youth-focused energy with targeted nostalgia for past eras that resonates with disaffected eastern German voters. Across Saxony-Anhalt’s campaign trail, his face dominated every AfD campaign poster under the rallying motto “everything is possible.” At public events, crowds of supporters — many sporting custom T-shirts printed with Siegmund’s portrait — lined up for hours to snap selfies and exchange brief words with the candidate.

Unlike many high-profile AfD figures known for abrasive, openly provocative rhetoric, Siegmund has deliberately steered clear of inflammatory public statements, framing himself as a relatable “man of the people” to win over voters who would otherwise reject the party’s well-documented radical stances, which include hardline pro-Russian policy, sweeping anti-immigration positions, and far-right extremist ideology. Despite his moderated public tone, Siegmund remains uncompromising on the AfD’s core platform. Following the election, he made clear the party would not abandon its core beliefs to form a coalition government.

Siegmund’s political trajectory began with a short early stint in Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union, the party of current Chancellor Friedrich Merz, before he defected to the AfD. A business management graduate who previously worked in commercial air freshener sales, he is far from a political newcomer: he has served as a legislator in Saxony-Anhalt’s Magdeburg-based state parliament for a decade, and has held the role of co-leader of the AfD’s parliamentary caucus there since 2022. He first built a large loyal following on social media through his vocal criticism of COVID-19 public health restrictions, capitalizing on widespread public discontent to grow his base.

A central pillar of Siegmund’s campaign has been deliberate nostalgia, echoing voter demands for what he frames as “the old, safe Germany back.” He has specifically courted lingering nostalgia for former communist East Germany among older eastern voters, most notably through iconic campaign appearances on vintage Simson mopeds, a beloved East German-manufactured brand. He even arrived at his hometown polling station in Tangermuende on one of the vehicles to cement that image. That choice, however, has sparked significant backlash: the Simson family, whose Jewish ancestors were stripped of their company by the Nazis in the 1930s before fleeing to the United States, has publicly condemned the AfD’s use of the brand.

The Saxony-Anhalt regional branch of the AfD is one of multiple AfD state organizations officially classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist group by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency. Siegmund also faced scrutiny over his attendance at a 2023 secret meeting in Potsdam, where a leading figure in the extremist Identitarian Movement laid out a radical “remigration” plan calling for the mass deportation of immigrants and German citizens with immigrant backgrounds. When the meeting was exposed months later, it sparked massive nationwide protests. As a result of his attendance, Siegmund was removed from his post as chair of the state legislature’s social affairs committee. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing, claiming his presence at the meeting did not equal an endorsement of the plan.

Incumbent Saxony-Anhalt Governor Sven Schulze, when asked in a recent televised debate whether he considered Siegmund a right-wing extremist, declined to issue a direct personal judgment, but noted that “I know who he surrounds himself with,” adding that “very extreme people” make up Siegmund’s closest political circle. The AfD has repeatedly and vehemently rejected all accusations of extremism. Just last month, Siegmund sought to reassure voters, claiming that “no one here needs to be afraid, quite the contrary. Every honest person in Saxony-Anhalt will benefit from an AfD-led government.”

Political analysts note that Siegmund’s carefully crafted public image is the key to the AfD’s historic gains in Saxony-Anhalt. “He manages to come over as likable, open, always smiling,” explained Wolfgang Merkel, a political science professor at the WBZ Berlin Social Science Center. Unlike other prominent AfD leaders, Siegmund deliberately avoids abrasive, overtly ideological or provocative language. “He is avoiding major conflicts at present; that doesn’t have to mean that he is a moderate, or conservative. He isn’t,” Merkel noted ahead of the election, adding that “whether he can govern is something he still has to prove.”

Germany is facing an unprecedented political shift after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) secured a historic electoral win in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, bringing the party closer to holding state-level executive power than any far-right German force has since the end of World War II.

Preliminary vote counts released after Sunday’s election show the AfD captured 43.8% of the popular vote, translating to 39 seats in the 83-member state legislature—just three seats short of the 42-seat absolute majority needed to form a government on its own. The result marks the most successful electoral performance in the party’s history, and party leaders are now moving aggressively to build the governing alliances needed to take control of the state administration.

Beatrix von Storch, deputy leader of the AfD’s federal parliamentary group, told the BBC that the party is now “very, very close” to taking power. In a direct appeal to rival political parties, von Storch argued that democratic norms require acknowledging the will of voters, saying: “You cannot say I do not accept the vote of the people.” She warned that a blanket refusal by other parties to negotiate with the AfD could trigger political deadlock, stating: “then we might end up in severe chaos and maybe we have a new election.”

Those remarks were echoed on Monday by Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD’s top candidate and state leader in Saxony-Anhalt, who framed the election outcome as a clear expression of voter confidence. At a post-election press conference, Siegmund called the result a “clear mandate to govern”.

Unlike most of Germany, where mainstream parties have maintained a strict cordon sanitaire banning any cooperation with the AfD, the party is now sounding out potential partners to form a government. Siegmund confirmed that exploratory talks were launched as early as Sunday night, and that negotiations could stretch on for days or weeks. “We reach out to everybody first, we will have consultations and then we’ll see whether [there are] individual parliamentary groups or MPs who would be willing to help us,” he explained. Von Storch added that the AfD has already initiated conversations with disaffected members of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the lead party in both Saxony-Anhalt’s outgoing governing coalition and Germany’s national government, claiming many CDU lawmakers are “very, very unhappy with their own party”. Preliminary results put the CDU in a distant second place in Saxony-Anhalt with just 17.2% of the vote.

One of the most widely discussed potential paths to power for the AfD is an informal minority government arrangement, where the small left-wing populist BSW (Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht) would provide tacit external support. The BSW, which is projected to win five seats in the new state parliament, shares policy ground with the AfD on two key issues: it takes a hard line on migration and supports resuming energy imports of Russian natural gas. To date, all German parties apart from the BSW have ruled out any form of cooperation with the AfD.

Saxony-Anhalt, home to just 2.1 million people, is part of the AfD’s electoral heartland in eastern Germany, where the party has built consistent support over the past decade. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency already classifies the Saxony-Anhalt AfD branch as a confirmed “right-wing extremist” organization—a designation that Siegmund, the 35-year-old state party leader, rejects outright.

A far-right party governing a German state would be a watershed moment for post-WWII German politics, and controlling a state administration would grant the AfD meaningful policy powers over policing and public education. While the result is limited to one state for now, it reflects a growing national trend: the AfD currently leads all national opinion polls, outperforming Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s ruling CDU and the centre-left Social Democrats. This is not the first time the AfD has won a state election in eastern Germany: it claimed victory in the neighboring state of Thuringia in 2024, but failed to cobble together enough support to form a governing administration.

One of the AfD’s most controversial national policies is its so-called “remigration” plan, which critics widely interpret as a call for mass deportations of immigrant communities living in Germany. The party has attempted to soften the rhetoric, framing the policy as targeted only at deporting convicted criminal migrants and people residing in Germany without legal permission.