Björn Höcke

Björn Höcke, leader of the AfD Party, Thuringia, celebrates the impressive achievement in Sunday's election, doubling it's vote total from five years ago after being fiercely attacked by the media and the other parties.

By Carolyn Yeager

Alternative für Deutschland Thuringia went from 12.8% of the vote total five years ago to 23.4% on Sunday, with all districts reporting. No other party came close to such an advance. Merkel's CDU (Christian Democrats) was the biggest loser, down 11.7%, from the last election! It's pretty clear the AfD took their new voters away from the CDU.

Nearly 65% of the state's eligible voters cast ballots in Sunday's election compared to 53% five years ago.