Overview
- Delegates in Oschersleben placed the 46-year-old state party chief and economics minister at the top of the list with 90 of 99 votes.
- Polling from September puts the AfD around 39–40 percent versus roughly 27 percent for the CDU, and the AfD is classified by the state intelligence service as a confirmed right-wing extremist case.
- The leadership’s draft list drew fire for scarce female representation, with only one woman initially among the top ten and three among the top twenty, and former education minister Eva Feußner declined an offered slot.
- Contested ballots exposed internal strains as ex-floor manager Markus Kurze failed in his bid for place eight, which went to Sandra Hietel-Heuer in a second vote.
- Schulze vowed to win all 41 constituencies and again ruled out any cooperation with the AfD, as he succeeds long-serving premier Reiner Haseloff, who is not standing in 2026.