For the first time in Germany, the Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) seized a mayoral post, when its candidate Hannes Loth prevailed in the runoff election against the party-less Nils Naumann in the Saxony-Anhalt town of Raguhn-Jeßnitz. Loth received 51.1% of the vote, the city announced July 2 yesterday. Naumann got 48.9%.
The Christian Democratic district administrator of the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district, where Raguhn-Jeßnitz is located, assessed that failures of other parties to address the concerns of normal people would lead to further AfD successes. “If the policy that is currently being carried out by the traffic light government continues in this way, this will not be the last mayor and the last district administrator of the AfD,” Andy Grabner told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). Not only in Eastern Germany, but also nationwide, that could be the political direction in the future, he warned.
“This is not a Saxony-Anhalt phenomenon,” he said, explaining that Loth voters are by no means all right-wing radicals. “There are just normal people from next door—like you and me.”
