The Alternative for Germany (AfD) debuted at 24.3%, with every other parliamentary party recording losses, particularly the SPD and The Left.

This made AfD the clear second-place finisher, in contrast to polling which predicted The Left would remain the second largest party.

The Greens narrowly returned to the Landtag, while the FDP fell barely 1,600 votes short of the 5% threshold.

The CDU won 30% of the votes and remained the largest party, but faced a strong challenge from the AfD.

[3][4] After the election, Haseloff stated: "The rise which AfD saw in the polls has the name of a city: it's Cologne," referring to the New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany.

In this situation, these parties would abstain from the vote for Minister-President, allowing the minority government to be formed with a simple plurality, rather than the typical absolute majority.