Social Democrats came in first with 30.9%, just ahead of the far-right AfD's 29.2% SPD will seek talks with the left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht alliance party, which came in third Brandenburg's election had record-high voter turnout.

Brandenburg is a longstanding stronghold for the party. But it is located in Germany’s relatively impoverished east, where the anti-immigrant A f D performs far better than in the west. That made this election a test of whether the SPD could beat the populists on its home ground.

The Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz have won an election in the eastern German state of Brandenburg. They gained a narrow edge over a growing far-right party.