In Germany, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) faced a setback when one of its candidates was excluded from a local mayoral race.
Joachim Paul, an AfD state parliament member, was barred from running for mayor in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, a city of about 170,000 residents, due to concerns raised by opponents about his adherence to Germany’s constitutional principles.
An administrative court recently upheld this decision, limiting Paul’s options to a post-election challenge.
On August 5, 2025, Ludwigshafen’s election committee voted 6-1 to exclude Paul, citing doubts over his loyalty to the free democratic order outlined in Germany’s Basic Law.
The committee, composed of representatives from globalist center-left and center-right parties like the Social Democrats (SPD), Christian Democrats (CDU), and Free Democrats (FDP), but excluding the AfD, based its ruling on an 11-page report from the state’s interior ministry.
This report, requested by current mayor Jutta Steinruck, detailed Paul’s alleged connections to right-wing figures and statements deemed problematic.
The Neustadt an der Weinstraße administrative court dismissed Paul’s urgent appeal on August 18, 2025, ruling it inadmissible and stating that electoral stability takes precedence, with reviews only possible after the September 21 vote.
The judges found no clear error in the committee’s decision and noted that a full probe into the claims would be too time-consuming before the election.
They referenced Paul’s inclusion in the 2024 Rhineland-Palatinate constitutional protection report and a prior court confirmation of the AfD as a suspected extremist group.
Allegations included Paul’s 2022 article praising J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” for conservative themes like defending homeland and culture, which authorities viewed as promoting ethnic nationalism.
Other points involved his use of “remigration” for non-integrated migrants, a meeting with Austrian activist Martin Sellner, and descriptions of violence as linked to “young, male, oriental” individuals.
Paul’s office in Koblenz was described as a hub for right-wing events, including those with “New Right” affiliations.
Paul, a 55-year-old former teacher and AfD member since 2013, rejected the accusations, claiming they stem from political bias and that non-left views are unfairly labeled extremist.
He suggested the exclusion was premeditated to sideline the AfD, which polled strongly in Ludwigshafen during recent federal elections. In interviews, Paul vowed to continue fighting legally and encouraged supporters to rally.
In comments given to The Gateway Pundit, AfD MP Paul said:
“State elections are scheduled for March next year, and the SPD—after 35 years in power—fears losing its grip. Ludwigshafen is the largest city in the Palatinate, a working-class stronghold where we’ve long been the dominant force. The state SPD and its allies in the city, together with the SPD interior minister and the head of domestic intelligence, have been plotting this for some time to rob us of an almost certain victory.
They don’t care that voters are growing desperate, left with no real choice. Now there are two SPD candidates, a left-leaning CDU man, and a woman from a splinter leftist party. Their motto seems to be: ‘Power at all costs!’ I never thought such a thing was possible. But my strong performance as a district council candidate in the Ludwigshafen area clearly rattled those in charge.”
He has two weeks to appeal to the Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Administrative Court, with AfD officials like Sebastian Münzenmaier criticizing the move as an attack on democracy.
Legal experts, including constitutional law professor Volker Boehme-Neßler, have questioned the evidence’s sufficiency and the process’s fairness.
Rhineland-Palatinate, governed by an SPD-Greens-FDP coalition, has seen heightened scrutiny of the AfD, with Interior Minister Michael Ebling announcing no further hiring of AfD members as civil servants.
This case follows similar exclusions of AfD candidates elsewhere, such as in North Rhine-Westphalia. Over 120,000 voters are eligible for the Ludwigshafen election, where four other candidates have been approved.
