Elif Eralp's The Left wins Berlin vote, opening path to first Left mayor

Elif Eralp's The Left achieved a decisive victory in Berlin's state election on 20 September 2026, opening a realistic path for Eralp to become the city's first mayor from The Left. The result sharply reshuffles the balance of power in the capital and brings coalition questions to the fore.

Coalition math will decide who governs Berlin

According to projections, The Left secured about 25 percent of the vote — roughly double its 2023 share — while the CDU fell to around 20 percent, losing some eight percentage points compared with the previous election. The Greens sit near 15 percent, the AfD between 14 and 16 percent, and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) around 12 percent.

Elif Eralp addressed cheering supporters after the result and said, "We have written history." With those numbers The Left could supply the mayor through a three‑party coalition with the Greens and the SPD; a CDU‑Green‑SPD arrangement would still be mathematically possible but politically less likely given the Greens' public signal favoring a left‑leaning tripartite alliance.

Eralp made housing the centrepiece of the campaign, promising to implement the 2021 referendum on expropriation of large housing companies with compensation and to expand municipal housing. She argues that the measure would provide roughly 220,000 additional municipal flats and help curb years of steep rent increases. She also pledged to cap rents in municipal housing and intensify the fight against unlawful rent hikes.

If she takes office, Eralp would not only become the first Berlin mayor from The Left but also the second state premier from the party after Bodo Ramelow in Thuringia; she would be the first head of Berlin's government with a migrant background, having Turkish roots. Final coalition talks and a decision on formal negotiations will now depend on the SPD's stance.

Photo: press material from the event