Candidates of the 2025 German federal election
2025 German federal election | |
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This is a list of candidates for the 2025 German federal election.
29 political parties are contesting the election. There are reportedly 1,700 fewer candidates in this election than in 2021. The oldest candidate is 79 and the youngest is 17.
Lead candidates by party
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
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. In addition to Scholz, Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had also been considered as a candidate for chancellor based on popularity polls. However, Pistorius announced in November 2024 that he wanted to remain defence minister in a new government.
CDU
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. Hendrik Wüst had previously announced his withdrawal and pledged his support for Merz. Daniel Günther had also previously been named as a potential candidate.
Alliance 90/The Greens
For Alliance 90/The Greens, Annalena Baerbock announced in July 2024 that she would not run for chancellor again. Robert Habeck announced in November 2024 that he would apply for the candidacy. Both Baerbock and Habeck are expected to be their party's top candidates.
FDP
Christian Lindner announced in November 2024 that he would again run as the Free Democratic Party (FDP) top candidate in the 2025 federal election.
AfD
In June 2023, Alice Weidel announced that Alternative for Germany (AfD) would nominate a candidate for chancellor for the first time. 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. 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.[Out of date]
Die Linke
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.
BSW
For the BSW party, founded in January 2024, the eponymous founder Sahra Wagenknecht is expected to be the top candidate.
Candidates by constituency
State lists by party:
Larger parties
Smaller parties
Five parties had their lists rejected:
- The Justice Party – Team Todenhöfer
- MERA25 – Together for European Independence
- Party of Humanists (PdH) – Facts, Freedom, Progress
- Party of Progress (PdF)
- Pirate Party Germany
State lists by party:
State lists by party:
State lists by party:
[What about the other parties in this Bundesland?]