Dear Reader,

The CDU have won a surprisingly convincing electoral victory in the east German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The conservative party were already the major power in the rural state and have been for the past two decades. Nonetheless, the size of their victory surprised most analysts since some polling had predicted a shock win for the AfD.

Under state leader Reiner Haseloff, the CDU won 37.1 percent of the vote on Sunday. The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany came in second on 20.8%, while the left-wing Linke were way back in third on 11.0 percent.

The Social Democrats suffered another humiliating evening. In a state in which they ruled at the turn of the millennium with over 35% of the vote, they could only muster an 8.4% vote share.

The Greens also had to swallow a sobering result. Hoping to profit from media hype around their new national leader, they barely made it into the parliament, scraping past the 5% threshold with 5.9% of the vote.