Story perspectives

Die Linke surges to 48% among Berlin under-35s

By Drooid · Sep 20, 2026, 10:53 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Eralp Leads Youth Surge

Die Linke candidate Elif Eralp leads a surge among Berlin voters under 35, reaching 48% support.
Die Linke polls 42% among 16-24-year-olds, 30% among 35-44, and 15% for 60+.
Infratest dimap estimates Die Linke gains 75,000 votes from abstainers.
Die Linke also gains 51,000 votes from Greens, 36,000 from SPD, and 14,000 from CDU.
Eralp, born 1981 to Turkish refugee parents, proposes socializing large real-estate firms and rent controls to secure affordable housing.

Summary

Merz Labels Disaster

Chancellor Friedrich Merz called the CDU’s 5.5% result in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania a “disaster.”
The CDU’s 5.5% vote is its poorest state-parliament showing since 1949.
AfD is projected to win about 38% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, overtaking the SPD.
Both Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania incumbent coalitions lost majorities, triggering new coalition negotiations.
Democratic parties pledged a “firewall” to keep the AfD out of any governing coalition.

History

Historical Context

In the 2017 German federal election, the far-right Alternative für Deutschland entered the Bundestag with 12.6% of the vote, marking its first parliamentary breakthrough. The CDU, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, fell to 32.9% nationally, losing 27 seats, while the SPD slipped to 20.5%. Today's Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern polls echo that pattern, with Die Linke surging among young voters and the CDU collapsing to 5.5% in the east. The 2017 breakthrough prompted German parties to adopt a formal “firewall” policy, now shaping coalition talks and limiting AfD participation in future governments.

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Eralp Leads Youth Surge

Die Linke candidate Elif Eralp leads a surge among Berlin voters under 35, reaching 48% support.
Die Linke polls 42% among 16-24-year-olds, 30% among 35-44, and 15% for 60+.
Infratest dimap estimates Die Linke gains 75,000 votes from abstainers.
Die Linke also gains 51,000 votes from Greens, 36,000 from SPD, and 14,000 from CDU.
Eralp, born 1981 to Turkish refugee parents, proposes socializing large real-estate firms and rent controls to secure affordable housing.

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