AfD elects Enrico Schult: Can he win the 2026 elections?

AfD elects Enrico Schult: Can he win the 2026 elections?

The political landscape in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is gaining momentum, and the AfD is proving to be a powerful player. Last Saturday, Enrico Schult was nominated as a direct candidate for the 2026 state election at a general meeting in Demmin with a clear vote of 37 out of 48 votes. This election is an important step as the AfD is ranked as the strongest political force in the country in recent polls, with peaks of up to 38 percent, while the SPD falls to just 19 percent. [Nordkurier] reports that Schult, the 46-year-old from Nossendorf, is not only running as a candidate for constituency 13, but also as one of the two state spokespersons for the AfD, alongside Leif-Erik Holm.

What does Schul’s rise have to offer? First of all, he is no stranger to the political business. Schult has been a member of the Schwerin Parliament since 2021, where he won the only direct mandate for the AfD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In the last state election, the AfD received 16.7 percent, a result that Schult says he wants to significantly improve. At the general meeting he emphasized that he would like to win the direct mandate again in 2026 and make the AfD the strongest political force in the Schwerin state parliament. These ambitions are underlined by the support of the state executive board, which voted a majority in favor of his nomination, as [n-tv] highlights.

With a view to the upcoming elections scheduled for September 20, 2026, a survey by infratest-dimap shows that dissatisfaction with the currently ruling red-red coalition is growing. 57 percent of those surveyed are dissatisfied with the state government, while 50 percent express satisfaction with Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig. This dissatisfaction could play into the AfD's hands, as it is currently on the rise. The party has already celebrated successes in the local elections in June 2024 and achieved 35 percent of the votes in the federal elections in February 2025 [NDR].

With two competitors in the nomination – Robbi Gollatz and Mirko Kohls – Schult prevailed impressively. His candidacy is not only perceived as a challenge for the SPD and Prime Minister Schwesig, but also as a pavement for the AfD to establish an even stronger position in the upcoming state parliament. The voter support seems to show Schult what the next few months could mean for the political situation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The question remains what follows after the elections. An alliance with the AfD is ruled out by other parties and forming a government could prove challenging. Nevertheless, it remains exciting to see how Enrico Schult will use this opportunity to realize his political goals and further consolidate the AfD. [Nordkurier] [n-tv] [NDR]