AfD power struggle in North Rhine-Westphalia escalates: regional leader defies Weidel, continues candidate selection

A party at war with itself

The North Rhine-Westphalia branch of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is engulfed in a bitter power struggle that has escalated into open revolt against the federal leadership. At the center of the conflict is the selection of the party's candidate list for the 2027 state election, a process that began on 9 July 2026 in the city of Marl. After a weekend of disruptions, insults, and a physical altercation between two federal lawmakers, federal leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla demanded on Thursday evening that regional leader Martin Vincentz cancel the assembly and restart the process. Vincentz refused in a sharply worded letter on Friday morning, and the conference continued as scheduled at 10:00 on 17 July.

The confrontation represents a critical fracture within a party that has recently enjoyed strong polling numbers nationwide. The AfD currently leads some federal polls and achieved record results for western state branches in March, but the chaos in its largest regional branch now threatens to derail preparations for a crucial election.

The two camps

Two irreconcilable factions dominate the conflict. On one side is state chairman Martin Vincentz, who presents himself as a moderate and is seen as an ally of federal co-chair Tino Chrupalla. Opposing him is a more right-wing faction led by federal lawmaker Matthias Helferich, who once reportedly called himself the "friendly face of National Socialism" and referred to Germans with migration backgrounds as "Viecher" (beasts). Helferich's faction commands approximately 40 percent of the delegates and is backed by Alice Weidel and newly elected federal vice-chair Sven Tritschler.

A party expulsion process against Helferich was pursued by the Vincentz-aligned state board but failed at the federal arbitration court in June, deepening the animosity. The two camps have since engaged in open warfare over the candidate list, which is expected to produce at least 30 lawmakers in 2027, up from the current 12.

Operation Filibuster and a breakdown of order

The conference ground to a halt on Sunday, 12 July, when Helferich's allies deployed what they termed "Operation Filibuster." Faced with the prospect of Vincentz's majority ramming through a one-sided list, they nominated more than 90 candidates for list position 22 alone. With each contender allotted eight minutes of speaking time, the conference schedule collapsed entirely. The vote for that single position was not completed until late at night.

By that point, positions 1 through 21 had already been filled. When the conference resumed a week later and Vincentz pressed forward, the Weidel-aligned faction walked out of the hall in protest. Deputy state chairman Christian Zaum branded the assembly a "party conference of shame." The remaining delegates then elected only candidates loyal to Vincentz for further positions.

From a legal perspective, the party conference must be continued.

Allegations and counter-allegations

The breakdown was accompanied by mutual allegations of criminal conduct. Helferich accuses his parliamentary colleague Knuth Meyer-Soltau of insulting him and shoving him from a chair during the conference. Meyer-Soltau denies the allegation. Both men have filed criminal complaints with the Dortmund public prosecutor's office.

In their letter demanding the conference's cancellation, Weidel and Chrupalla cited "several corroborating accounts" suggesting that delegates had been threatened or placed under significant pressure. Vincentz categorically rejected these claims, insisting that secret balloting had been guaranteed at all times. He accused the federal board of seeking to generate a candidate list "agreeable to the federal executive" rather than respecting the delegates' choices.

Sven Tritschler told public broadcaster WDR that multiple sworn affidavits attested to threats and coercion against delegates and noted that 13 of the party's state speakers had recommended halting the conference. He accused Vincentz of behavior damaging to the party.

What happens next

The federal board is scheduled to convene again on Monday, 21 July, to discuss the crisis. Reports indicate the body is considering removing Vincentz and the entire NRW state board from office. Whether such a move would be legally viable or politically enforceable after Vincentz's successful power play remains an open question. The conference itself is scheduled to continue over several weekends into September.

For Alice Weidel, the confrontation is a direct challenge to her authority from the party's largest and most powerful regional branch. With state elections approaching in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Berlin in September, the internal warfare in NRW could overshadow the party's broader electoral prospects.