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.

The BSW is a movement founded this year by Sahra Wagenknecht, who was a leader of the Left party. Wagenknecht created her own party, BSW, to reorient leftwing voters with a message critical of the country's immigration policies and Germany's support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

The Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz have won an election in the eastern German state of Brandenburg. They gained a narrow edge over a growing far-right party.