Left Party | Left Party election campaign: Only miracles are inexplicable

The Left Party's election campaign was recently named Political Campaign of the Year by the trade journal "Politik & Kommunikation." The award is a no-brainer. When has a party ever nearly tripled its support during an election campaign? Let's remember: When the traffic light coalition collapsed in November 2024, The Left Party was polling at three percent. On February 23, it achieved almost nine percent.

The story is extraordinary, but not unprecedented. As in 2009, the election year with the Left's historically best election result, a thematic medley resounded: then, the minimum wage, ending retirement only at age 67, and getting out of Afghanistan – this time, a rent cap, lowering prices, and Tax the Rich. Other topics were embedded in a top-down framing. At the same time, a clear stance was taken on migration and anti-discrimination issues. Also indispensable was the message of the "silver curls" : "Whether five percent or not – The Left will enter the Bundestag." This strengthened the perception of the party as a realistic option.

Ein Pfund (A Pound) was Heidi Reichinnek's pioneering work on TikTok and Instagram. Even at the beginning of the year, when polls were still below five percent, it was filling theaters. The content creators and social media team achieved reach and interaction rates that surpassed all other parties. The results among younger voters bear witness to this: According to Infratest dimap, Die Linke (The Left) garnered 25 percent of the vote among those under 25 (an increase of 17 percent compared to 2021), making it the strongest party in this age group.

The early door-to-door surveys transitioned seamlessly into a dedicated door-to-door campaign. The Bundestag group's rent calculator and heating cost check retold the story of the caring party in a media-effective way. This was complemented by catchy posters and two powerful campaign clips. With the coverage of the party conference in Berlin in mid-January 2025, the message spread throughout society that The Left could succeed.

And a bit of luck played a part: The already iconic phrase "My name is Jan van Aken, and I think there should be no billionaires" was punctuated by images of Donald Trump's inauguration with a line of billionaires and Elon Musk's Nazi salute. Society now understood: The question of whether or not we can afford billionaires is a matter of democracy, not just a left-wing whim. The top five in the polls came in the week following the party convention and with the start of Trump's presidency.

Society now understood: The question of whether we can afford billionaires or not is a question of democracy and not just a left-wing whim.

Rarely mentioned in election analyses, but nevertheless important for many who still voted for the Greens and SPD in 2021, was that Jan van Aken spoke differently about Russia's war in Ukraine. He made it unmistakably clear that, unlike the "Kremlin party BSW," Die Linke stands in solidarity with the attacked country. His first trip abroad took him to Kyiv and Bucha shortly after his election as party chairman in October 2024. This trip, as well as his subsequent statements on the war, reduced existing electoral barriers within the progressive milieu. Jan van Aken now lent the necessary credibility to the party's unambiguous resolutions, which had existed since the Erfurt party conference.

To fully understand the electoral success, it helps to look back to 2009. Back then, Die Linke, as an anti-neoliberal protest party, captured the zeitgeist. Billions spent on bank bailouts and the social cuts of the Schröder government were seeking an oppositional outlet. Die Linke was the address through which they could express their voice for an end to neoliberal policies. And they did: With 11.9 percent, Die Linke achieved its record result.

This year, such momentum initially seemed to be lacking. But at the end of January, something monstrous happened in German parliamentary history: For the first time since 1945, German conservatives sought to pass a law together with a recognizably fascist party. It was in this situation that Heidi Reichinnek delivered the speech that gave the Left Party's election campaign the decisive momentum: "To the barricades." And while it was noted that the Greens and SPD actually wanted to support Merz, it was the Left Party's lead candidate who, in her speech, gave emotionally authentic expression to the feelings of outrage felt by millions against the cooperation with the AfD.

People literally ran down the party's door. Membership rose from around 60,000 to well over 100,000 by election day four weeks later, and the number of likes and shares on social media exploded. Increasingly, influencers with wide reach also declared their support for The Left. Max and Tina Uthoff also publicly declared their support. From then on, the poll numbers knew only one direction: up.

But the fact that The Left could be a credible focal point of social outrage at this moment was not a given, but had a political prerequisite: the break with the social democratic-nationalist wing around Wagenknecht.

We remember: The party and the social left had lost each other during the period when The Left had to fight over whether solidarity with refugees was negotiable for them, whether the Greens or the AfD was the most dangerous party, and whether there were different standards for imperialist wars. For the party and the social left to find common ground again, clear answers were needed. Since the departure of Wagenknecht and her supporters, there had finally been no more ambiguities. Only for this reason could The Left be seen as a bulwark for democracy and against the fascist threat in this election, and the collusion of the CDU/CSU and the AfD had a positive impact on the party.

The break with the social democratic-nationalist wing was no accident, however. It was controversial and contested within the party. Recall the 2022 Erfurt party conference and attempts to formulate compromise documents with Wagenknecht. Party leaders Janine Wissler and Martin Schirdewan had to work hard to convince the party's members before the party executive committee finally sent a clear message to those who wanted to move to the right: "The future of the party is a party without Sahra Wagenknecht." Without this pioneering work, the electoral success would not have been possible.

Even if one could not always be certain at times, the election results and membership growth demonstrated that the social left had been waiting for a party that was unequivocally left-wing. Social, humanistic, internationalist, democratic, emancipatory, and, on the issue of peace, not distinguishing between good and wrong imperialism. The election results also show, confirmed by voter migration (1.3 million voters came from the SPD and the Greens) and by a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation, that, especially in progressive circles, a social-humanistic left with a clear stance against the right was seen as a necessary political force as a bulwark of democracy. As in 2009, it ultimately succeeded in becoming an expression of social momentum in 2025.

The Bertelsmann Foundation summarizes the electoral success as follows: "The new Left Party owes its electoral success primarily to the more progressive milieus. With 15 percent in the post-materialist and 17 percent in the neo-ecological milieu, it has competed with the Greens in their core voter milieus." Because it can be assumed that these voter groups have quite clear political values regarding democracy and anti-fascism, it remains advisable for The Left to continue to cultivate this foundation even on its path to becoming an organizing class party. Voters in these milieus, politically volatile and constantly testing which party in the progressive camp will make them an attractive offer, will not simply remain so. Binding them to The Left will be one of the party's most important tasks.

Only by building on this foundation can the path to becoming an "organizing class party" be successfully pursued. Anchoring in progressive milieus provides both the electoral and active basis for tapping into other working-class milieus through direct dialogue, socially popular appeals, and growing electoral success. If The Left loses these milieus to the Greens and the SPD, the path to precarious or traditional milieus, in which many dependent workers are located, will become more difficult, not easier. The human resources for the strategy of organizing class politics will then be lacking. And it should not be overlooked that the party becomes attractive to traditional or precarious milieus not only through concrete offers such as home-based discussions, heating bill checks, or "The Left Helps." Electoral success also makes one sexy. And "post-material" milieus are essential for this, as the federal election showed.

However, the fact that the party is now clearly adopting the concept of class-political orientation, which Katja Kipping and Bernd Riexinger pioneered with their "unifying class politics," as "organizing class politics," is a positive development. This shared strategic focus should not be underestimated for future successes. For a long time, the party lacked a jointly supported strategy.

In addition, however, especially in light of the upcoming state elections, particularly in the East, and the next federal election – after which cooperation between the CDU/CSU and the AfD is not unthinkable, as the recent electoral disaster with the constitutional courts demonstrated once again – the parliamentary and power politics levels must also be taken into strategic consideration. The Left will also have to resolutely convey in these elections that it intends to keep the AfD out of any government. For the "post-materialist" and more urban-based voter groups that have made The Left so strong, the defense of democracy is a fundamental concern. This is another reason why it is important to combine organizing class politics with power politics that defends democracy.

Bernie Sanders' political strategy can serve as a model for this. He consistently mobilized his supporters with the goal of assuming the world's most powerful office. Zohran Mamdani's primary election victory in New York also demonstrates that clear political focus, organization, and the willingness to take on government can be a recipe for success for socialist politics. Despite the differences between the political systems of Germany and the United States, Die Linke can certainly model its strategy on that of the popular US senator. Why not assume the role of the "Sanders wing" in the German progressive party spectrum: radically reformative, mobilizing, and power-conscious?