Next Thuringian state election

Coalition crisis and constructive votes of no confidence

In January 2026, TU Chemnitz revoked Voigt's doctorate degree after confirming allegations that part of his dissertation was plagiarized. The AfD filed a constructive vote of no confidence in response with Höcke as the proposed Minister-President, which failed with 33 votes out of the necessary 45 in favor.

In August, after Voigt's appeal against the revocation was denied, Höcke proposed another constructive vote of no confidence but with Sahra Wagenknecht as the Minister-President candidate instead. The AfD and BSW would have a majority together, and Wagenknecht previously stated that the BSW should support a potential AfD government under an independent Minister-President if her party enters the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt at the 2026 election. She called the proposal "neither honest nor serious" but added that Voigt had lost trust and the state party should revoke its support.

On 17 August, two BSW MdLs, Anke Wirsing and Sven Küntzel, released a statement that they had lost confidence in Voigt. With the presence of the Left working with the government as a constructive opposition, this did not itself bring down the government. Wagenknecht again called for the end of the coalition and the installation of an independent Minister-President who would work with all parties. State party leader Katja Wolf criticized Wagenknecht and federal BSW leadership for carrying out "intentional destabilization" of the coalition, which she said was working quietly and constructively together.

On 19 August, the AfD formally proposed the second constructive vote of no confidence – once again with Höcke as the replacement candidate – to be voted on in a special session on 28 August. The vote once again failed with 33 votes in favor, 49 against, 3 abstaining, 2 invalid ballots and 1 absent.

On 2 September, three BSW MdLs – Dirk Hoffmeister, Roberto Kobel and Stefan Wogawa – left the party and formed their own parliamentary group Your Vote Counts. The three stated that continuing parliamentary work was impossible within the shadow of what they called an "ever-crazier federal leadership". Höcke told the press his party would move to dissolve the Landtag and hold a snap election, though doing so would require a two-thirds majority vote.

This was followed by ten additional BSW MdLs, including Wolf, leaving the party on 4 September along with nearly all of the state executive committee. In a press conference, Wolf said "we were not elected to flirt with right-wing radicals", referring to Wagenknecht's increased public pressure for her party to end its participation in the coalition and the long-standing firewall policy and work with the AfD. They founded the new party Thuringia.Just (TG) on 10 September and continued supporting the government. Anke Wirsing and Sven Küntzel remained in the BSW and form a rump parliamentary group, which is now in the opposition.

The AfD motion to dissolve the Landtag was voted down on 7 October with 34 yes votes and 52 no votes; a two-thirds majority of 59 votes was required and only the AfD bloc and Wirsing and Küntzel voted for it. Before the special session to vote on the motion, Voigt announced he would be withdrawing a lawsuit against TU Chemnitz, thus ending all efforts to have his doctoral degree restored.

Graphical summary

Party polling

Minister-President polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size					Other/Don't know	Lead
			Höcke AfD	Voigt CDU	Wolf TG	Maier SPD
INSA	27 Mar – 7 Apr 2026	1,000	20	18	9	6	47	2
INSA	27 Jan – 3 Feb 2025	1,000	21	26	—	—	43	5