Candidates of the 2025 German federal election
This is a list of candidates for the 2025 German federal election.
Lead candidates by party
[edit]The Federal Chancellor is elected by the Bundestag on the proposal of the Federal President. In addition to this actual procedure, parties running for election put forward candidates who are intended to become Federal Chancellor if they win the election. Opinion polls take this into account in part by asking about the popularity of the Chancellor candidate.
The following are the top candidates for each party on the state lists:
SPD
[edit]Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the Social Democratic Party announced in 2022 that he would also run as the SPD's candidate for chancellor in the 2025 federal election.[1] In addition to Scholz, Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had also been considered as a candidate for chancellor based on popularity polls.[2] However, Pistorius announced in November 2024 that he wanted to remain defence minister in a new government.[3]
CDU
[edit]In September 2024, the leaders of the CDU and CSU agreed on Friedrich Merz as candidate for chancellor. Minister-President of Bavaria Markus Söder declined.[4] Hendrik Wüst had previously announced his withdrawal and pledged his support for Merz.[5] Daniel Günther had also previously been named as a potential candidate.[6]
Alliance 90/The Greens
[edit]For Alliance 90/The Greens, Annalena Baerbock announced in July 2024 that she would not run for chancellor again.[7] Robert Habeck announced in November 2024 that he would apply for the candidacy.[8] Both Baerbock and Habeck are expected to be their party's top candidates.[9]
FDP
[edit]Christian Lindner announced in November 2024 that he would again run as the Free Democratic Party (FDP) top candidate in the 2025 federal election.[10]
AfD
[edit]In June 2023, Alice Weidel announced that Alternative for Germany (AfD) would nominate a candidate for chancellor for the first time.[11] At the end of September 2024, the two chairmen Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel agreed that Weidel herself should lead the party into the election campaign as candidate for chancellor.[12] In December 2024, Weidel was nominated as candidate for chancellor by the AfD's federal executive board; the party thus wants to nominate a female candidate for chancellor for a federal election for the first time. The nomination will be decided at the party conference in January 2025.[13]
Die Linke
[edit]In November 2024, the Die Linke party announced the chairwoman of the Bundestag group Heidi Reichinnek and the new party leader Jan van Aken as its top candidates.[14]
BSW
[edit]For the BSW party, founded in January 2024, the eponymous founder Sahra Wagenknecht is expected to be the top candidate.[15]
| State | List leader | State | List leader | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | Bavaria | Klaus Ernst | ||
| Berlin | Oliver Ruhnert | Brandenburg | ||
| Bremen | Christopher Schulze | Hamburg | ||
| Hesse | Ali Al-Dailami | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | Friedrich Straetmanns | |
| Lower Saxony | Amira Mohamed Ali | North Rhine-Westphalia | Sahra Wagenknecht | |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | Alexander Ulrich | Saarland | Desiree Kany | |
| Saxony | Saxony-Anhalt | Michael Lüders | ||
| Schleswig-Holstein | Milad Salami | Thuringia | Robert Henning |
References
[edit]- ^ Krause, Lea-Katharina; AFP (2022-12-08). "Bundestagswahl 2025: Olaf Scholz will für zweite Amtszeit antreten". Die Zeit (in German). ISSN 0044-2070. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ "SPD-Kanzlerkandidatur: Boris Pistorius will nicht antreten". ZDFheute (in German). 2024-11-11. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ Ismar, Georg (2024-09-17). "Kanzlerkandidatur der SPD: Boris Pistorius, der dritte Mann". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ tagesschau.de. "Merz wird Kanzlerkandidat der Union". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ "CDU: Hendrik Wüst kämpft nicht um Kanzlerkandidatur und unterstützt Friedrich Merz". Der Spiegel (in German). 2024-09-17. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ "Das Kanzlerkandidaten-Karussell der Union". ZDFheute (in German). 2023-10-04. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ "Baerbock schließt erneute Kanzlerkandidatur aus". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ Deiß, Matthias. "So begründet Habeck seine Kanzlerkandidatur". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ Balser, Markus; Timmler, Vivien (2024-11-14). "Grüne: Robert Habeck tritt im Spitzenduo mit Annalena Baerbock an". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ deutschlandfunk.de (2024-11-07). "Nach Bruch der Ampel-Koalition - FDP-Chef Lindner will seine Partei erneut als Spitzenkandidat in die Bundestagswahl führen". Die Nachrichten (in German). Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ NACHRICHTEN, n-tv. "AfD will eigenen Kanzlerkandidaten aufstellen". n-tv.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ "Weidel soll Kanzlerkandidatin der AfD sein". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ "Germany's far-right AfD party nominates a candidate for chancellor in the upcoming election". AP News. 2024-12-07. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ "Reichinnek und van Aken wollen Die Linke retten". FAZ.NET (in German). 2024-11-10. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ "Wagenknecht als Kanzlerin? BSW-Chefin nimmt Stellung". t-online (in German). 2024-03-16. Retrieved 2024-12-21.