- Poll: Wagon hand would be ahead in direct elections in Thuringia
BSW Namesake Sahra Wagenknecht would have the edge in a hypothetical direct election for the position of Minister President in Thuringia. According to a survey by Insa on behalf of the Funke Media Thuringia newspapers, 29 percent of respondents would vote for her. The incumbent leftist Bodo Ramelow and the chairman of the AfD, which is classified as right-wing extremist by the Verfassungsschutz, Bjoern Hoecke, would each receive 18 percent. Eleven percent would vote for the CDU state chairman Mario Voigt.
For the survey, the Erfurt pollsters interviewed 1,000 adult Thuringians online from August 5 to 12. Wagenknecht is not on the ballot for the Thuringia state election. The head of government is elected by the state parliament.
Low values for other top candidates
The other top candidates only achieve single-digit values in the survey: Georg Maier (SPD) with four percent, Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) with three percent, and Bernhard Stengele and Madeleine Henfling (both Greens) with one percent each.
Without Wagenknecht, Ramelow, whose Left party is only in fourth place in the polls with 16 percent, could hope for a theoretical direct election: 26 percent would vote for him. 20 percent would vote for Hoecke. Unlike the Left, the personal approval ratings of the AfD chairman are still significantly lower than those of his party, which is in the lead with 30 percent according to the pollsters.
The following survey results do not include BSW Namesake Sahra Wagenknecht as a direct election candidate, yet she still garners the highest support with 29%. In the same hypothetical scenario, the incumbent Bodo Ramelow would receive 26% of the votes.
