From the state election in Rhineland‑Palatinate, the CDU emerged as the clear winner. The preliminary official final results, published Sunday evening, put the Christian Democrats at 31.0 %, a gain of 3.3 percentage points. Behind them, the SPD, led by Minister President Alexander Schweitzer, suffered a historically poor outcome with 25.9 %, a drop of 9.8 percentage points. The numbers point toward a grand coalition, with the CDU leading.
The AfD, as the third‑largest force, doubled its 2019 result, winning 19.5 % of the vote (+11.2 pts). The Greens came in fourth with 7.9 % (down 1.4 pts) and, while they gained a seat in the state parliament, are likely to move from the coalition into opposition. The FDP dropped to 2.1 % (down 3.4 pts) and the Free Voters fell to 4.2 % (down 1.2 pts), both parties losing their parliamentary representation. The Left, while not entering the parliament, had 4.4 % (+1.9 pts), closer to the threshold.
Smaller parties received the following shares: BSW 1.9 %, the Animal Protection Party 1.6 %, Volt 1.1 %, ÖDP 0.5 % and PdH 0.1 %.
The new state parliament will contain 105 seats: the CDU will hold 39, the SPD 32, the AfD 24, and the Greens 10. Voter turnout was 68.5 %, 4.2 percentage points higher than five years ago, and significantly lower than the number of mail‑in ballots cast in the 2021 Corona election.
