The AfD politician Maximilian Krah has won by far the most first votes in constituency 162 (Chemnitz surrounding area-Erzgebirgskreis I). This means that, like AfD national leader Tino Chrupalla, who was successful by a wide margin in constituency 156 (Görlitz), he is likely to enter the new Bundestag via the direct mandate. Krah received 44.2 percent of the first votes. The runner-up - CDU politician Katrin Sophie Pojar - received 27.7 percent.
Krah had been in the headlines ahead of the European elections in June 2024 following reports of suspected links to Russia and China as well as investigations into an ex-employee for alleged espionage for China. His party's lead candidate for the 2024 European elections was later excluded from the AfD delegation in the European Parliament.
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