An upcoming election could produce modern Germany's 1st far-right state governor

MOESER, Germany -- An election in eastern Germany on Sunday could produce the first far-right state governor in the country's post-World War II history as Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his unpopular national government struggle to dispel what he calls “widespread moroseness.”Several polls show a large lead for the anti-migration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, ahead of the election to the state legislature in Saxony-Anhalt. Taking control of a state government would be the biggest prize in the party’s 13-year history, a political shock to Germany and at least a symbolic blow to Merz. “If AfD wins the election and forms the government, that would be kind of breaking a taboo in Germany,” said Wolfgang Merkel, a political science professor with the WBZ Berlin Social Science Center. Modern Germany so far has been “an exception” in Europe in having no radical right-wing party governing at the national, state or big-city level, he added.Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union has led Saxony-Anhalt, a region west of Berlin that's among the country’s less prosperous and is home to 2.1 million of Germany's 83.5 million people, since 2002. But it faces strong headwinds.In last year’s...