There was a sensation in the election of the Thuringian Prime Minister on Wednesday: Acting Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow was unexpectedly voted out because all parties on the right spectrum, from the FDP to the CDU to the AfD, allied against him. The successor is the 54-year-old FDP state chairman Thomas Kemmerich, who received 45 votes in the third ballot, one vote more than Ramelow.
The left-wing politician Ramelow had previously missed the absolute majority twice in the state parliament of the eastern German state. A relative majority was sufficient in the third ballot; therefore the reelection of Ramelow was expected. Together, Ramelow’s coalition of left, SPD and Greens would have had 42 seats in the 90-member state parliament. The AfD has 22 mandates. Initially, she sent the non-party candidate Christoph Kindervater into the race, but then also supported Kemmerich in the third ballot. This had only started on the last ballot.