This is in response to all the misleading headlines about AfD winning Thuringia when it's clear they did no such thing. my understanding is that they got less then a third of the vote and from my understanding the odds of them getting a coalition government is incredibly low. I don't see how that can count as a win. now if they had gotten near 50% or at least seemed likely to form a coalition I could understand calling it a win. Like the 2017 UK elections where conservatives were 7 seats short of a majority and DUP had 10 seats.
By winning I don't mean doing better then expected. The AFD did better then expected in Saxony but no one calls the second place a win even if they seem not much more likely to form a coalition government.
I don't have as much experience with this since I live in the US where two parties are dominant almost everywhere and the rare independent (usually loosely affiliated or agreeing with one party) is the closest that we get to coalition governments. At least nationally and in most states, there has been a few times when a few centrist members of one party agreed to give power to the other party without switching to that party (in Alaska, NY, etc?)
How does your local media report on a party getting a plurality? Especially when prospect of them forming a coalition is uncertain or unlikely?
PS: I realize that AfDs performance is worrisome I just feel talking about their "wins" makes it seem even worse then it actually is.