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.
In a post that received over 1 million views, Homburg wrote:
“According to WDR, four AfD candidates who were not excluded have died immediately before the NRW municipal election: Blomberg, Rheinberg, Schwerte, Bad Lippspringe. Statistically almost impossible.”
Laut @WDR sind vier @AfD-Kandidaten, die nicht ausgeschlossen wurden, unmittelbar vor der NRW-Kommunalwahl verstorben: Blomberg, Rheinberg, Schwerte, Bad Lippspringe. Statistisch fast unmöglich. https://t.co/zpGdUGAbo9
— Stefan Homburg (@SHomburg) August 29, 2025
The comment was later amplified by U.S. billionaire Elon Musk.
Musk has repeatedly expressed sympathy for AfD and drawn criticism from Western media for weighing in on German politics.
The Tesla CEO also commented on elections in Cologne, where all parties except AfD agreed to highlight only the “positive aspects of migration” during the campaign.
“Either Germany votes AfD or it is the end of Germany,” Musk wrote on Sunday.
Musk was echoing remarks he made in 2024 and early 2025 that fueled outrage from corporate media outlets.
Either Germany votes @AfD or it is the end of Germany https://t.co/Ix58V4USrn
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 31, 2025
AfD currently leads Germany’s governing Christian Democratic Union by two percentage points in national polling, making it the largest political party in the country.
Election authorities in NRW have scrambled to issue new ballots in affected districts, but mail-in votes already cast are now invalid.
Those voters will be required to resubmit their ballots.
Despite the highly unusual circumstances, police have not launched investigations into the deaths of the four AfD candidates.
Given Germany’s polarized political environment, AfD supporters say they are deeply concerned about the safety of their candidates heading into September’s elections.
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