Salzgitter becomes a stronghold of the AfD in Lower Saxony. With a narrow lead, the party became the strongest force in the local city council - and also has a chance of becoming mayor. In the city council election she received 27.39 percent. It ended up just ahead of the SPD (25.85 percent) and the CDU (23.23 percent). “We are more than satisfied,” said deputy state chairman Stephan Bothe about his party’s performance in the state one day after the local elections.
Overall, the AfD recorded the largest gains of all parties in the local elections at district level: compared to 2021, it more than tripled its result from 4.6 to 15.9 percent. In cities like Wilhelmshaven, Delmenhorst and Nienburg, the AfD narrowly missed a majority of votes.
In the mayoral election in Salzgitter, however, the party, with Patricia Mair, reached a runoff election for a top municipal office for the first time. On September 27th, Mair will challenge the incumbent Frank Klingebiel (CDU). The AfD candidate received 25.67 percent of the vote, Klingebiel received 45.61.
Why Salzgitter?
Salzgitter has a large proportion of migrants, social problems and an above-average unemployment rate. Around 100,000 people live in the city, which is an amalgamation of several places. Salzgitter has repeatedly found itself in the negative headlines in recent years.
When the city council decided by a majority in December 2025 to examine compulsory work for asylum seekers, this not only attracted nationwide attention, but also caused disagreement in the red-green state government. While the SPD spoke of a necessary discussion, the coalition partner rejected the initiative as a “completely wrong instrument,” as Green Party leader Anne Kura put it at the time.
Trials and crime
Just a few weeks ago, in the spectacular abuse complex surrounding Josephine R., a woman from Salzgitter was sentenced to a prison sentence of one year and ten months on probation for lying and making false statements. The city also hit the headlines because of an accusation by the public prosecutor's office that a young woman was said to have been tortured with a baseball bat, a Bunsen burner or a hammer over several years.
There was disbelief in the city and the entire region in June 2022 when a then 14-year-old and a 13-year-old classmate lured 15-year-old Anastasia to an overgrown property in Salzgitter, suffocated her there and hid her body in bushes. He was convicted of treacherous murder.
Breeding ground for the AfD?
What is striking is that the party is particularly popular in medium-sized cities and sometimes rural regions. According to the Left in Lower Saxony, which also recorded gains, this is particularly evident in Salzgitter. The city is both industrial and rural, said co-country manager Thorben Peters. “Municipalities that are drained of blood and are underfinanced” and “growing social fears with regard to VW, but also the chemical and steel industries” are reasons for voting for the AfD. Green Party co-leader Maximilian Strautmann also said that the AfD's strongholds were in regions affected by structural change.
The party is listed as a right-wing extremist monitor by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Lower Saxony; Four of the party's candidates were not admitted to the local elections because of doubts about their loyalty to the constitution. The AfD is defending itself legally against both. AfD state leader Ansgar Schledde said that this had “raised the awareness of many citizens that a clear democratic alternative is needed as a corrective even at the smallest level of our state.”
