SPD's Schwesig Outperforms AfD in Personal Polling but Loses Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Election

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Manuela Schwesig had taken steps to distance herself from her own SPD and Chancellor Merz's reforms. If she had done the same regarding the Ukraine war and armament, would the election have turned out differently? If voters could directly elect the minister-president, the result would have been clear: 62 percent for Manuela Schwesig, 29 percent for Leif-Erik Holm. 61 percent were satisfied with the minister-president's work. On which party was most trusted to solve the state's key problems, the SPD led with 42 percent, well ahead of the AfD's 25. Nevertheless, the AfD won the state election with 38.2 to 35.5 percent. What exactly did these people vote for? Apparently not simply Holm instead of Schwesig, and not a party they trust more to fix schools, the economy, or social security in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.