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Germany’s conservative opposition won two decisive victories in regional elections on Sunday, while the three parties in chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition saw their share of their vote shrink in both states.
However, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) emerged as the other big winner of the day, experiencing a surge in the polls fueled by public anger over increasing refugee numbers.
Based on exit polls, projections from public broadcaster ARD revealed that the AfD achieved its best-ever results in a west German state, obtaining 15.3% of the vote in Bavaria and 16.6% in Hesse.
Alice Weidel, co-chair of the AfD, claimed that voters were increasingly dissatisfied with the government’s policies, which she called “prohibitionist” and against the interests of the people.
Omid Nouripour, national co-leader of the Greens, expressed concern over the AfD’s results and emphasized the need to regain the trust of the electorate.
The declining popularity of Scholz’s government was evident in the results from Hesse and Bavaria, highlighting widespread disillusionment among voters. Migration, inflation, high energy costs, and a lingering recession were among the pressing issues that turned voters against the governing parties. Additionally, frustrations with the coalition partners’ internal conflicts and disputes further fueled the discontent.
Bettina Stark-Watzinger, the liberal education minister, acknowledged the immense impact of the migration issue on the election campaign in the final weeks.
The main conservative opposition parties emerged victorious in both elections, with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) achieving 35.3% of the vote in Hesse and the Christian Social Union (CSU) winning the Bavarian election with 36.8%.
All three government parties experienced a decrease in their vote share. The Social Democrats (SPD), in particular, suffered a dismal night, winning only 15.7% of the vote in Hesse and 8.4% in Bavaria, their worst-ever results in these states.
Lars Klingbeil, SPD co-leader, described the results as two defeats for the party.
Boris Rhein, the prime minister of Hesse and leader of the Christian Democrats in the state, celebrated an “unbelievably awesome day for the CDU in Hesse.”
The election results suggest that the current governments in Bavaria and Hesse can maintain their positions. Hesse operates under a CDU-Green coalition, while Bavaria is governed by a CSU and conservative association called Free Voters.
Markus Söder, Bavaria’s prime minister and CSU leader, declared the CSU’s victory as a choice for stability and a positive outcome for the party. Söder is widely seen as a potential joint candidate for chancellor with the CDU/CSU in the next election.
However, the CSU’s result was slightly worse than in the previous election and its worst since 1950.
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