4 Populist AfD Candidates Die ‘Suddenly and Unexpectedly’ Right Before Germany’s Elections: ‘Statistically Impossible’

by Frank Bergman

Another candidate for Germany’s right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has died “suddenly and unexpectedly” just weeks before critical local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).

The latest mysterious passing of an AfD politician marks the fourth such death nationwide in recent months.

As German outlet WDR reported, Ralph Lange, 66, AfD’s direct candidate for the city council in Blomberg, died on August 28.

His passing immediately invalidated polling cards and postal ballots already distributed, forcing local officials to reprint and resend new ones under significant time pressure.

The Blomberg election will now proceed as a by-election on September 14.

Lange’s case was not isolated, however.

Stefan Berendes, AfD’s candidate for the city council in Bad Lippspringe, also died unexpectedly.

Berendes’s sudden death has triggered the same ballot replacement procedures.

AfD must now decide whether to nominate successors for both candidates.

Two other AfD candidates, in Schwerte and Rheinberg, also died suddenly just days before the scheduled elections.

That brings the total to four unexplained deaths among AfD candidates in a very short span.

German economist Stefan Homburg called the string of deaths “statistically almost impossible” in a post on X.