Thuringia Election Showdown: Incumbent Ramelow Faces Tough Re-Election Amid Surge of Far-Right AfD and New Alliances
August 7, 2024Bodo Ramelow, the only Left Party minister-president in Germany, has governed Thuringia since 2014 and will defend his position in the upcoming state election on September 1, 2024.
However, Ramelow is facing low approval ratings, with his party polling between 11 to 16 percent, making his chances of re-election appear slim.
The Thuringian Greens are also in a precarious position, aiming for re-entry into parliament amid a challenging electoral landscape.
The FDP is forecasted to fail to surpass the 5 percent threshold needed for representation in the state parliament.
Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt emphasized that this election is about defending democracy and diversity against right-wing parties.
The far-right AfD, led by Björn Höcke, is seen as a strong competitor in the upcoming election, having received 30.7 percent of the vote in the recent European elections.
The newly formed Alliance of Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) has disrupted the election landscape, polling close to the CDU, just two percentage points behind.
Katja Wolf, former mayor of Eisenach, is running for the BSW and is now considered a contender for the minister-president position.
Recent polls indicate that the CDU's support is between 20 to 23 percent, necessitating at least one coalition partner to secure a government.
The CDU's Mario Voigt, aiming to end his party's opposition status, previously governed Thuringia from 1992 to 2014.
The Wahl-O-Mat tool has presented 38 theses for voters to express their positions on various issues, providing insights into party alignments.
Overall, recent polls indicate a significant impending defeat for the German coalition government, known as the Ampel, in the upcoming state elections.
Summary based on 12 sources