Next Thuringian state election

Next Thuringian state election
2029
All 88 seats in the Landtag of Thuringia
45 seats needed for a majority
 
Party AfD CDU BSW
Last election 32 seats, 32.8% 23 seats, 23.6% 15 seats, 15.8%
 
Party Left SPD
Last election 12 seats, 13.1% 6 seats, 6.1%
Incumbent Government

Voigt cabinet
CDU–BSW–SPD


The next election to the Landtag of Thuringia is scheduled for 2029.

Background

In the 2024 election, the AfD became the first far-right party in Germany since the Nazi Party to win a plurality of seats in a state election.[1] The Thuringian AfD is led by Björn Höcke.

Mario Voigt was elected Minister-President on the first ballot with 51 votes in favor, 33 votes against, and 4 abstentions. His party formed a minority coalition with the SPD and the BSW. To achieve confirmation and reach the necessary majority, the Left – which positioned itself as "constructive opposition" – provided some of the votes in favor.[2] With the early 2026 collapse of the SPD–BSW Fourth Woidke cabinet in Brandenburg due to several BSW MdLs leaving the party, this is the only coalition involving the BSW in any state.

Constructive votes of no confidence

In January 2026, TU Chemnitz revoked Voigt's doctorate degree after confirming allegations that part of his dissertation was plagiarized. The AfD filed a constructive vote of no confidence in response with Höcke as the proposed Minister-President, which failed with 33 votes out of the necessary 45 in favor.[3] In August, after Voigt's appeal against the revocation was denied, Höcke proposed another constructive vote of no confidence but with Sahra Wagenknecht as the Minister-President candidate instead. The AfD and BSW would have a majority together, and Wagenknecht previously stated that the BSW should support a potential AfD government if her party enters the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt at the 2026 election.[4] She called the proposal "neither honest nor serious" but added that Voigt had lost trust and the state party should revoke its support.[5]

On 17 August, two BSW MdLs, Anke Wirsing and Sven Küntzel, released a statement that they had lost confidence in Voigt. With the presence of the Left working with the government as a constructive opposition, this did not itself bring down the government. Wagenknecht again called for the end of the coalition and the installation of an independent and technocratic Minister-President who would work with all parties, including the AfD.[6] The following day, state party leader Katja Wolf called a special party convention to discuss the path forward; Wolf criticized Wagenknecht and federal BSW leadership for carrying out "intentional destabilization" of the coalition, which she said was working quietly and constructively together.[7]

On 19 August, the AfD formally proposed the second constructive vote of no confidence – once again with Höcke as the replacement candidate – to be voted on in a special session on 28 August. The vote once again failed with 33 votes in favor, 49 against, 3 abstaining, 2 invalid ballots and 1 absent. Höcke then called it his "moral responsibility" to propose no-confidence votes monthly until the government falls, though left it open if he would follow through with the threat; the constitution sets the threshold at the application of one-fifth of the Landtag membership (18 seats) or a Fraktion (i.e., an established parliamentary group), meaning the AfD can continue to do so alone.[8]

Opinion polls

Graphical summary

Curve of the polling for the 2029 Thuringian State Election

Party polling

Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size		 AfD CDU BSW Linke SPD Grüne FDP Others Lead
INSA 23–30 Jun 2026 1,000 40 22 7 16 6 4 – 5 18
INSA 27 Mar – 7 Apr 2026 1,000 39 24 7 14 6 3 – 7 15
INSA 27 Jan – 2 Feb 2026 1,000 38 24 7 14 7 3 – 7 14
INSA 2–9 Dec 2025 1,000 39 24 7 14 6 3 – 7 15
INSA 2–9 Sep 2025 1,000 37 25 9 14 7 3 – 5 12
INSA 29 Apr – 6 May 2025 1,000 35 24 11 14 8 3 – 5 11
2025 federal election 23 Feb 2025 – 38.6 18.6 9.4 15.2 8.8 4.2 2.8 - 20.0
INSA 27 Jan – 3 Feb 2025 1,000 35 25 13 11 7 4 – 5 10
INSA 2–9 Dec 2024 1,000 34 25 14 12 7 4 – 4 9
INSA 28 Nov – 4 Dec 2024 1,000 34 25 14 13 6 – – 8 9
2024 state election 1 Sep 2024 – 32.8 23.6 15.8 13.1 6.1 3.2 1.1 4.3 9.2

Minister-President polling

Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size		 Other/Don't know Lead
Höcke
AfD		 Voigt
CDU		 Wolf
BSW		 Maier
SPD
INSA 27 Mar – 7 Apr 2026 1,000 20 18 9 6 47 2
INSA 27 Jan – 3 Feb 2025 1,000 21 26 — — 43 5

Notes

See also

References

  1. ↑ "German far right wins first major election since World War II". The Washington Post. 1 September 2024. Archived from the original on 1 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  2. ↑ "Thüringen: Erster Wahlgang: CDU-Chef Mario Voigt ist neuer Ministerpräsident von Thüringen". tagesschau.de (in German). 12 December 2024.
  3. ↑ "Thüringen: AfD-Misstrauensvotum: Voigt bleibt Ministerpräsident - Höcke gescheitert". mdr.de (in German). 4 February 2026.
  4. ↑ "Höcke will Wagenknecht zur Ministerpräsidentin machen: „Ich reiche Ihnen die Hand" - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). 13 August 2026.
  5. ↑ Eydlin, Alexander (13 August 2026). "Thüringen: Wagenknecht weist Ministerpräsidentinnen-Vorschlag von Höcke zurück". Die Zeit (in German).
  6. ↑ "Thüringen: Brombeer-Koalition bröckelt – zwei BSW-Abgeordnete tragen Voigts Regierung nicht mehr mit - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). 17 August 2026.
  7. ↑ ""Thüringen als Spielball" - BSW plant Sonderparteitag nach Wagenknecht-Streit". mdr.de (in German). 18 August 2026.
  8. ↑ "AfD-Chef Höcke als Ministerpräsident? So lief die Abstimmung". mdr.de (in German).
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