In the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the far-right Alternative für Deutschland emerged from Sunday's election with exit polls showing more than 44 percent of the vote — a result that surpassed predictions and that the party received as a moment of vindication. The outcome reflects a deepening pattern in which eastern Germany, long feeling peripheral to the country's political center, has become the AfD's most fertile ground. Whether this commanding share of votes translates into governing power remains an open question, one that hinges on proportional arithmetic and the fate of smalle