A feared political earthquake did not materialize in the district elections in Saxony. In the first ballot, the CDU was able to assert itself in most constituencies. The AfD was not able to win a single district office.

According to preliminary results, the CDU maintained its dominance in the district elections in Saxony. The AfD, on the other hand, performed significantly worse than expected in the nine districts. In the district of Mittelsachsen, where the AfD had calculated the best chances of winning the first district post nationwide, the non-party candidate Dirk Neubauer was clearly ahead of the AfD candidate Rolf Weigand after the first ballot. There will be another election on July 3rd.

District elections in Saxony: CDU prevails – AfD weaker than expected

In the districts of Northern Saxony and Saxon Switzerland-Osterzgebirge, on the other hand, it is already clear that the CDU incumbents will keep their posts. In the state capital Dresden, incumbent Dirk Hilbert (FDP) was ahead – but he has to face the vote again.

The North Saxon District Administrator Kai Emanuel defended his office with 62.9 percent of the votes. The non-party Emanuel, who ran for the CDU, clearly left the candidate of the far-right Freie Sachsen, Uta Hesse, behind. She received 20.0 percent of the votes. The Christian Democrat Michael Geisler remains in the district office of Pirna. He received 54.3 percent of the votes, twice as many as AfD candidate Ivo Teichmann (23.9 percent). Incumbent Henry Graichen (CDU) in the Leipzig district also achieved an absolute majority with 69.9 percent of the votes. He was also supported by the Greens.

In all districts up for election, apart from Central Saxony, the CDU clearly came first, but has to face another ballot on July 3rd. With a view to the first ballot, however, the Christian Democrats can count on good chances in the districts of Bautzen, Görlitz, Zwickau, Vogtlandkreis and in the Erzgebirge district. In the Erzgebirge district and in the district of Zwickau, they are not only competing with the AfD, but also with strong free voters, who came to 24.4 percent in Zwickau and 19.7 percent of the votes in the Erzgebirge district shortly before all votes were counted.

Dresden has to go to the ballot box again

As expected, the people of Dresden also have to go to the polls again. On Sunday, incumbent Dirk Hilbert was clearly ahead with 32.5 percent of the votes, but it wasn’t enough for a win. The second ballot is scheduled for July 10th. Hilbert stood up for the “Independent Citizens for Dresden” alliance, which is also supported by the CDU.

In the other places were Dresden’s environmental mayor Eva Jähningen (Greens) with 18.9 percent, SPD interior expert Albrecht Pallas (15.2 percent), the AfD MEP Maximilian Krah (14.2 percent) and the left candidate André Schollbach ( 10.3 percent). The Left, SPD and Greens had previously agreed to jointly send the strongest candidate from the three parties to the race in the second ballot. Accordingly, Eva Jähnigen will compete against Hilbert. AfD man Krah also wants to continue.