Far-right AfD politician wins mayoral election in eastern German town
An Alternative for Germany (AfD) member has won the election for mayor of a small town in the east of the country, adding to a recent string of victories for the far-right party.
Rolf Weigand received 59.4% of the vote on Sunday, easily defeating the two other candidates in Grossschirma, a town located west of Dresden.
Weigand is a member of the state parliament of Saxony for the AfD.
In the mayoral election he ran as an "individual candidate," meaning he was not officially put forward by the AfD.
The election in the town of 5,500 residents had become necessary following the sudden death of the long-time incumbent Volkmar Schreiter late last year.
Weigand also stood in the previous mayoral election, but was defeated by Schreiter, a member of business-friendly Free Democrats.
In the town of Pirna, about 60 kilometres east of Grossschirma, Tim Lochner took office as mayor at the beginning of the week. Lochner is not an AfD member, but had been nominated for election by the party.
