Overview
- Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. in Rhineland-Palatinate for about 2.95 million eligible voters, with ballots counted after doors close at 6 p.m.
- Pre‑election surveys indicated a neck‑and‑neck contest between SPD incumbent Alexander Schweitzer and CDU challenger Gordon Schnieder, raising the prospect of the SPD’s long rule being challenged.
- The AfD polled around 19–20 percent ahead of the vote, while the FDP risks missing the 5 percent threshold, a combination that could steer coalition arithmetic toward a CDU–SPD arrangement.
- Across Bavaria, 294 municipal runoffs are being held, including a high‑profile Munich mayoral rematch between SPD incumbent Dieter Reiter and Green challenger Dominik Krause.
- AfD candidates did not reach any Bavarian runoffs, and several county and city contests are tight, such as the Landsberg am Lech district race.