Ex-communists win German state vote but far right surges

BERLIN (AP) - Voters in the German state of Thuringia have backed a popular governor from the ex-communist Left Party but also boosted a far-right party whose leader has vowed to deport migrants if he came to power.

According to projections released by public broadcaster ZDF, the two parties on the extreme ends of the political spectrum received more than half of the vote in Sunday's election.

Incumbent governor Bodo Ramelow will likely lose the majority his coalition with two other leftist parties had in the state legislature, forcing him to either seek a fourth partner or attempt a minority government.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union, which came third with about 22% of the vote, has ruled out a coalition with either the Left Party or the far-right Alternative for Germany.

The Left Party was projected to get almost 30% of the vote, a slight improvement on 2014. Alternative for Germany, whose leader Bjoern Hoecke has come under scrutiny from Germany's domestic intelligence agency for possible extremist views, was forecast to get 23%, more than doubling its result five years ago.