The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) unexpectedly failed to win its second district administrator position in the central state of Thuringia on Sunday.
In the closely watched race in the rural Saale-Orla district near the Czech border, AfD candidate Uwe Thrum and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) candidate Christian Herrgott faced each other in a run-off election.
Although Thrum went into the run-off as the favourite, Herrgott won the post with 52.4% of the vote, against Thrum's 47.6%.
The vote in Thuringia took place amidst a backdrop of growing unease about extremist tendencies in the AfD.
The Correctiv media outlet recently reported on a meeting of radical right-wing organizations in Potsdam last year which was also attended by some AfD politicians.
One one of the topics reportedly discussed at that meeting was the concept of "remigration" or the repatriation of a large number of people of foreign origin, including those with German passports.
An ongoing wave of large protests against right-wing extremism continued across Germany on Saturday and Sunday.
Herrgott, 39, is CDU secretary-general in Thuringia and has been a member of the state parliament since 2014.
Last summer, Robert Sesselmann won the AfD's first county administrator post in the Sonneberg district, just 60 kilometres to the west.
The Thuringia branch of Germany's domestic intelligence service, categorizes the state AfD association headed by Björn Höcke as proven right-wing extremist and is monitoring it.
Sunday's run-off was seen as a test of public opinion for upcoming state elections in Thuringia on September 1.
The AfD is far ahead in national opinion polls, having recently consistently achieved figures of over 30% at the state level in Thuringia. The situation is similar in Saxony and Brandenburg, where elections are also due in September.
