The far - right Alternative for Germany ( AfD ) will claim a clear victory in state parliamentary elections in the German state of Thuringia , well ahead of the second - place conservative Christian Democrats ( CDU ), initial exit polls show . Projections from public broadcasters ARD and ZDF released just after polls closed at 6 pm ( 1600 GMT ) put the AfD at 30 . 5 % to 33 . 5 % of the vote , with the CDU trailing at 24 . 5 %. The upstart populist Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht ( BSW ), which has campaigned on a mix of left - wing economic policy and right - wing messages on immigration , is forecast to finish third in Thuringia with 14 . 5 % to 16 . 0 %. Incumbent state Premier Bodo Ramelow ' s hard - left Die Linke ( The Left ) is projected to slide into fourth place with 11 . 5 % to 12 . 5 % - a major slide from the most recent state parliamentary election in 2019 , when they claimed first place with 31 %. BSW broke away from Die Linke earlier this year in a bitter split that appears to have sapped aw ay voters from the party . dpa sku jed xxde bst eraSource: The Namibia News Agency