The conservative and far-right gains come at the expense of Merz’s federal coalition partners, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which came second in the small state of around 4 million inhabitants bordering France, Luxembourg and Belgium. The SPD’s defeat at the hands of its coalition partner could plunge it deeper into crisis nationally and destabilize the government in Berlin as the party seeks to retrench and appeal to what’s left of its left-leaning base.
The SPD’s vote share collapsed by around 10 percentage points to 25.9 percent. Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), meanwhile, came first with 31 percent of the vote, taking control of the state premiership from the SPD after 35 years in opposition.
The CDU’s lead candidate in Rhineland-Palatinate, Gordon Schnieder, pointed to a combative campaign. “We had that will to win, I’ve felt it over the past few months,” Schnieder said on ARD television.
The biggest winner in terms of vote share gained is the AfD, though, which more than doubled its support to 19.5 percent compared with the last state election five years ago when it got 8.3 percent of the vote. The strong showing comes after the AfD’s third-place performance in a state election in Baden-Württemberg earlier this month, illustrating how the party has been able to gain ground outside its eastern strongholds. The outcome in Rhineland-Palatinate is the AfD’s best-ever result in a western German state.
The election in Rhineland-Palatinate was the second of five state races to be held this year in what Germans are calling a Superwahljahr — or “super election year” — that is seen as a key test of the national mood as the AfD seeks to overtake Merz’s conservatives in national polls. The AfD is on track to secure big victories in two eastern states in votes set for September, according to polls.
“We have achieved record results,” Alice Weidel, one of the AfD’s national leaders, said on Sunday. “Voters appreciate the work we’ve done as opposition party, and we will continue on this path so that we can join the government in the next election.”