The AfD lost the district administrator election in the Dahme-Spreewald district and continues to have no district administrator in Brandenburg. According to the preliminary results, the independent candidate Sven Herzberger won the runoff election with 64.8 percent of the vote, as the returning officer announced.
The AfD candidate Steffen Kotré got 35.2 percent. In the first round of voting, AfD member of the Bundestag Kotré was just ahead of Zeuthen Mayor Herzberger. The district is considered a boom region and BER Airport is also located there.
In the runoff election, Herzberger was supported by all parties except the AfD. Voter turnout was 47.9 percent, slightly lower than in the first round. The Brandenburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the AfD state association as a suspected right-wing extremist case since 2020.
In the Sonneberg district in Thuringia, the AfD has appointed its first district administrator in Germany this year. In the Dahme-Spreewald district, the previous district administrator Stephan Loge (SPD) is leaving office after 16 years. The district with the BER airport is considered a boom region.
