AfD tops another German state poll, Merz’s CDU crashes to historic low

Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) emerged as the largest party in Sunday's election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, dealing another setback to Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU).According to preliminary results, AfD won 38.3 percent of the vote, ahead of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) at 35.4 percent, while the CDU secured just 4.9 percent, its worst result in a state election since 1949.According to Reuters, the result marked the AfD's second first-place finish in a German state election this month, after it came close to an outright majority in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6.In Berlin, meanwhile, the Left Party emerged as the largest party with 25.3 percent, followed by the CDU at 19 percent and the AfD at 16.3 percent.Merz described the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania result as "a disaster" but said he would remain in office and continue with his reform agenda.