The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Sunday said she was “very satisfied” after projections showed the party in third place in the election in the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg.
The party was on 17.9%, almost doubling its 9.7% share of the vote from the last election in the prosperous state in 2021.
“This amounts to a doubling of our results, and we can be very satisfied with that,” Alice Weidel told public broadcaster ARD.
The AfD has traditionally performed strongest in eastern regions but has grown in strength across the country in recent years, finishing second in the 2025 federal parliamentary election despite facing investigations by domestic intelligence services over its suspected extremist views.
The party is expected to see further gains in elections in the eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern later this year. It could even seize power in Saxony-Anhalt with an unprecedented absolute majority, allowing it to enter a state government for the first time in its history.
In Baden-Württemberg, the AfD leadership targeted 20% of the vote, but appeared to have fallen short after facing allegations of cronyism in recent weeks.
The party is set to form the largest opposition group in the state parliament in Stuttgart, with all mainstream parties in Germany rejecting collaboration with the AfD in a policy known as the “firewall.”
The AfD’s best ever result in a state election in western Germany came in Hesse in 2023, where it secured 18.4% of the vote.