Overview
- Wednesday’s Infratest dimap ARD DeutschlandTrend put the AfD at 27 percent and the CDU/CSU at 23 percent, the Union’s worst national showing since January 2022.
- Satisfaction with the federal government has fallen to about 12 percent and approval of Chancellor Friedrich Merz sits near 16 percent, according to the same poll.
- The economy has overtaken migration as the top issue for voters, with 27 percent naming it as the most important problem and many people predicting their personal finances will worsen.
- Nearly half of respondents say they chose their party out of 'disappointment' rather than conviction, a motive cited by 57 percent of AfD supporters that appears to be fueling the party’s rise.
- Rising AfD support makes state-level coalition math harder—public opinion is evenly split on the CDU’s ban on cooperating with the AfD and that split raises real questions about who can form majorities in contests such as September’s Saxony-Anhalt vote.