The controversial AfD politician Björn Höcke has been re-elected as chairman of the Thuringian AfD state association. At a state party conference on Saturday in Pfiffelbach (Weimarer Land district), the 50-year-old received 183 yes votes, 19 no votes with two abstentions, achieving a result of 89.7 percent of the votes cast. Two years ago, Höcke had achieved a result of almost 84 percent.

The Thuringian AfD is classified by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a secured extremist effort. The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, described Höcke as a right-wing extremist.

In the last state election, the party came second behind the left with 23.4 percent of the vote. In the most recent surveys, the AfD is ahead in Thuringia - according to an Insa survey in September, it received 26 percent support.