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BERLIN (AP) \u2014 Nicki K\u00e4mpf watched her daughter toddle across the sand in a Berlin playground and wondered whether she and her wife should move their 1 1\/2-year-old west, after Alternative for Germany became the first far-right party<\/a> to win a state election in post-World War II Germany.<\/p>\n K\u00e4mpf, 29, and her wife discussed a backup plan as Sunday’s election results came in<\/a>. They’re concerned that a gay couple and their child might not be safe in the future if parties like Alternative for Germany, or AfD, gain more power in the formerly communist and less prosperous eastern states.<\/p>\n Even though they live in the liberal city of Berlin, K\u00e4mpf was scared the far-right’s power could spread. She’s especially worried because the paperwork to formally adopt her daughter is still pending \u2014 and could be for another year or more.<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t think I would be able to adopt her if they’re in power,\u201d K\u00e4mpf told The Associated Press on Monday. \u201cI don\u2019t want to bring her up in a hostile environment.\u201d<\/p>\n The couple talked about a possible move west to Cologne \u2014 \u201cpeople there are really open-minded\u201d \u2014 but K\u00e4mpf is reluctant to take their daughter far from the toddler’s 91-year-old great-great-grandmother and other family in Thuringia and neighboring Saxony.<\/p>\n AfD won its state election<\/a> in Thuringia on Sunday under one of its hardest-right figures, Bj\u00f6rn H\u00f6cke<\/a>. In Saxony, the party finished only just behind the mainstream conservative Christian Democratic Union, which leads the national opposition.<\/p>\n Deep discontent with a national government notorious for infighting, inflation and a weak economy, anti-immigration sentiment<\/a> and skepticism toward German military aid for Ukraine<\/a> are among the factors that contributed to support for populist parties. A new party<\/a> founded by a prominent leftist was the second big winner on Sunday \u2014 and will probably be needed to form state governments since no one is prepared to govern with AfD.<\/p>\n AfD is at its strongest in the east, and the domestic intelligence agency<\/a> has the party\u2019s branches in both Saxony and Thuringia under official surveillance as \u201cproven right-wing extremist\u201d groups. H\u00f6cke has been convicted<\/a> of knowingly using a Nazi slogan at political events, but is appealing.<\/p>\n H\u00f6cke bristled Sunday when an ARD interviewer mentioned the intelligence agency\u2019s assessment, responding: \u201cPlease stop stigmatizing me. We are the No. 1 party in Thuringia. You don\u2019t want to classify one-third of the voters in Thuringia as right-wing extremist.\u201d<\/p>\n Voters went to the polls on the 85th anniversary of Nazi Germany\u2019s invasion of Poland<\/a> at the start of World War II. Some far-left protesters demonstrated against AfD in Hamburg, Dresden and Leipzig.<\/p>\n Lukas Meister said his sons, 6 and 3 years old, are too young to understand elections. But as the 3-year-old played with sand toys Monday, the 38-year-old father thought about how his eldest child will have to learn about it someday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don’t talk much about politics so far. He’s more into \u2018Paw Patrol,\u2019\u201d Meister said. \u201cIt’s hard to explain. How is it that people are so proud to vote for a party that is so bad for everyone?\u201d<\/p>\n Older Germans who lived through the Nazi reign of terror are frightened. Many believed their country had developed an immunity to nationalism and assertions of racial superiority after confronting the horrors of its past<\/a> through education and laws to outlaw persecution.<\/p>\n