AfD Tops Exit Poll in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as CDU Hits Post-War Low

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) captured 37 percent of the vote in Sunday's Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election, according to an ARD exit poll, edging out the governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) at 35.5 percent. The result extends a pattern of strong performances by the right-wing populist party across Germany's eastern states, where it has consistently capitalized on voter discontent over immigration and economic stagnation.

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), led nationally by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, plummeted to just 5.5 percent — its weakest showing in any state or federal election since the Federal Republic's founding in 1949. The collapse underscores the party's deepening erosion in a region that once served as a reliable conservative stronghold.

The exit poll offers the first indication of seat distribution in the Schwerin Landtag, the state legislature. Final official results are expected later in the evening. Should the projections hold, the AfD would emerge as the largest single party in parliament, though government formation remains uncertain. All other established parties maintain a categorical refusal to enter coalition with the AfD, a "firewall" that has so far blocked the party from executive power despite its electoral gains.