COLOGNE, Germany

A member of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was elected mayor of a small town on Sunday.

Rolf Weigand, 39, won the mayoral election in Grossschirma in the state of Saxony.

An engineer by profession, Weigand acheived victory in the first round with 59.4% of the vote, according to preliminary results.

With a voter turnout of 74%, Weigand's closest competitor, Andre Erler from the Independent Citizens' Association, received 22.3% of the vote, while Gunther Zschommler from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) received only 18.2%.

An interim election was decided for the town due to the suicide of Mayor Volkmar Schreiter last autumn.

Last July, AfD candidate Hannes Loth won the election in Raguhn-Jessnitz, a small town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, becoming the first AfD mayor elected in the country.

The far-right AfD party is known for its anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric, drawing criticism from many sectors of the country with its harsh statements.

*Writing by Gizem Nisa Cebi in Istanbul