The German far-right party AfD has won the early elections this Sunday in Sonneberg, a small district of Thuringia, which will thus become the first territory governed by the far-right in Germany. The AfD candidate, Robert Sesselmann, achieved 52.8% of the vote, making him the district administrator (Landkreis, as these administrative units are called).
Sonneberg, with about 56,000 inhabitants spread over various towns and villages, of which 48,000 were voters, is one of the smallest districts of this type in Germany, where there are a total of 294. Apart from that, there are the largest cities, which constitute a district urban, of which there are 106 throughout the country. Altogether, Germany thus has 400 districts.
Robert Sesselmann, 50, a lawyer and regional deputy, was facing the Christian Democrat candidate Jürgen Köpper in the second round, who held the position on an interim basis until these early elections, which were called after the departure of the incumbent -an independent elected in 2018- because of a serious illness.
Despite the fact that the other parties gave their support to Köpper -who has achieved 47.2%-, it has been the AfD candidate who has received the most votes in this small district of an eastern land like Thuringia, where the extreme right tends to get very good results. Already in the first round, held on June 11, he came first (46.7%) but without an absolute majority.
The novelty for German politics on this occasion is that Robert Sesselmann will actually be able to govern, when until now the ultra-right has never been able to do so in any City Council or regional government due to the sanitary cordon imposed by the other parties.
In the land of Thuringia, current polls give the AfD first place in voting intentions, with around 30%. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is especially strong in the eastern Länder, territories of the former communist GDR, and in the case of Thuringia, the party is dominated by its most radical current, represented by regional leader Björn Höcke.
