Germans head to the polls in state elections as pressure mounts on Merz
The AfD comes into Sunday's vote fresh off the back of its election success in Saxony-Anhalt earlier this month and will be hoping for further gains.
Germans will vote on Sunday in two state elections that could greatly impact Chancellor Friedrich Merz's future. The polls will be held in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In Berlin, Merz's ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is set for a tight contest against Die Linke, a party popular among younger voters and committed to addressing the housing crisis.
Meanwhile, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's race pits the Social Democratic Party (SPD) against the hard-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD). The AfD is fresh off their recent success in Saxony-Anhalt and is aiming for more wins. However, MeckPomm presents a tougher challenge for the AfD, as they will face off against the SPD's incumbent Manuela Schwesig, who has been state minister-president since 2017.
Recent polls indicate Die Linke is slightly ahead of the CDU in Berlin, while the AfD is leading the SPD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. With the CDU needing only 5% of the vote to keep its state parliament seat, a strong showing for either the AfD or Die Linke would put pressure on Merz, who has been Germany's chancellor since May 2025 and whose popularity has been in steady decline.
Opinion pieces like that of 43-year-old Moritz Lembke-Oezer outside a Berlin polling station expressed hope that the election could be a "punishment" for the CDU, potentially leading to Merz's departure. Polls outside Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's capital, showed pensioner Peter Sommer hoping for an AfD victory, believing it would force them to deliver results, or it would be their last electoral push.
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