AfD appears to be winning support across all social groups in Saxony-Anhalt

The AfD’s traditional voter profile no longer tells the whole story in Saxony-Anhalt. Polling researchers say the party now draws support from every major social group ahead of the state election.

Stefan Merz of the polling institute dimap said the AfD had become broadly supported across the population, although some groups still backed it more strongly. The party’s typical voter remained a middle-aged male worker with a lower or intermediate school qualification who lived in a rural area or small town rather than in Halle or Magdeburg.

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By now, we have to say that the AfD is finding support in all population groups.

At the same time, the AfD reportedly performs best among women in the state as well. It has also gained ground among older voters, residents of large cities, employees, civil servants and people with university-entrance qualifications. Parties that win support across social groups are often described as catch-all parties.

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A middle-aged male worker with a lower or intermediate school qualification who does not live in Halle or Magdeburg, but in the countryside or a small town.

The reasons voters give for choosing the AfD have changed little, according to Merz. Immigration and asylum remain the most frequently cited motives. The finding contradicts Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s claim in a Sunday summer interview that migration no longer played a role in the state elections. Saxony-Anhalt’s domestic intelligence agency classifies the AfD in the state as “definitively right-wing extremist.”

Merz warned against treating current polls as a forecast. One in three voters had not yet chosen a party, and previous elections showed that many people made their decisions only in the final stages of the campaign.

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Previous elections have shown that many people decide only in the final stages.