Brandenburg is a longstanding stronghold for the party. But it is located in Germany’s relatively impoverished east, where the anti-immigrant A f D performs far better than in the west. That made this election a test of whether the SPD could beat the populists on its home ground.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) looked set to fend off the far right in a state election in Brandenburg on Sunday after trailing behind the Alternative for Germany (AfD) throughout the campaign,

An exit poll released after voting ended in a state election in Brandenburg, Germany on Sunday showed the Social Democrats with a slight edge over a growing right-wing party. The voting took place three weeks after the party made gains in two other states in eastern Germany.