section_path: Political parties and candidates/Nominations and lead candidates
section_name: Nominations and lead candidates
paragraph_text: Nominations and lead candidates
  
  In contrast to the 2021 election, the Kanzlerfrage (chancellor question) for the CDU/CSU was resolved relatively quickly. After good performances for the CDU in the September 2024 state elections in Saxony and Thuringia, the two other prospective candidates – North Rhine-Westphalia Minister-President Hendrik Wüst and Bavaria Minister-President and CSU leader Markus Söder – expressed their full support for Friedrich Merz. Söder was thought to pursue another attempt at the nomination; many CDU rank-and-file, however, saw him in a negative light after a months-long battle with Armin Laschet for the nomination in 2021, followed by personal attacks on Laschet that were seen as undermining the Union campaign, as well as his categorical ruling-out of any coalition with the Greens after this election. (The CSU has only provided the Union's lead candidate twice: in 1980 and 2002.)
  
  At The Left's party convention in October, former lead candidate Gregor Gysi announced an effort called Mission Silberlocke ("Mission Silver Locks") to bolster the party's prospects in the face of infighting and faltering polling. Gysi committed to run for re-election in his constituency of Berlin-Treptow – Köpenick, with former parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch running for a third time in Rostock – Landkreis Rostock II and former Minister-President of Thuringia Bodo Ramelow – the only Left member to have led a state government – contesting a Bundestag seat for the first time since 2005 in Erfurt – Weimar – Weimarer Land II. The goal is to capitalize on the three men's relatively high personal popularities and give The Left the best chance to win three constituencies and ensure they remain in the Bundestag. The effort is nicknamed in humorous reference to their advanced ages. Party co-leader Ines Schwerdtner is also running to replace the retiring longtime MdB Gesine Lötzsch in the stronghold of Berlin-Lichtenberg, and parliamentary co-leader Sören Pellmann is seeking re-election in Leipzig II, which are both seen as likely holds for The Left. Experts also rated Gysi and Ramelow as favorites to win their respective constituencies, which combined would retain the party's representation. Jan van Aken was elected party co-chair alongside Schwerdtner on the same day; however, in November, van Aken and parliamentary co-leader Heidi Reichinnek were selected as The Left's dual lead candidacy for the campaign.
  
  In November, various SPD legislators and leading figures – most prominently former party leader Sigmar Gabriel – began publicly calling for Defence Minister Boris Pistorius to be designated the party's chancellor candidate owing to its and Scholz's poor polling. Polling for ARD showed Pistorius as the most favorably viewed national politician: 60% of voters thought he would be a good chancellor, compared to 42% for Merz and 21% for Scholz. In a video released on 21 November, Pistorius ended two weeks of public debate by disavowing any interest in running for chancellor and expressing his full support for Scholz. Such a protracted and public debate, and party leadership's apparent inability to quickly control or restrain it, was seen as embarrassing and damaging; Jusos President Philipp Türmer directly called out party leaders Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil for the "shitshow" at their national congress the following weekend. Nonetheless, Scholz was unanimously renominated as chancellor candidate by the party's executive, a group which includes Pistorius, on 25 November. Scholz's nomination was confirmed at a party congress on 11 January; as is usual for sitting chancellors, the vote was by acclamation rather than secret ballot, and he received little opposition.
  
  On 17 November, the Greens nominated sitting vice chancellor Robert Habeck as its chancellor candidate. Habeck and foreign minister Annalena Baerbock remain their co-lead candidates, though Baerbock was the chancellor candidate in 2021. Habeck's campaign does not use the term chancellor candidate and instead refers to him as a "Candidate for the people in Germany" (Kandidat für die Menschen in Deutschland). However, the media uses the usual term.
  
  On 7 December, the AfD executive nominated Alice Weidel as its chancellor candidate. This is the first time the party has referred to its leader as a chancellor candidate (Kanzlerkandidat). This term is normally reserved for the parties (SPD, Greens, and CDU/CSU) seen as having a realistic chance of becoming a senior coalition partner and providing a chancellor instead of the term lead candidate (Spitzenkandidat/in) used for smaller parties. Because other parties refuse to work with it, its chances of entering government are unlikely.
  
  The BSW also nominated Sahra Wagenknecht as a chancellor candidate on 16 December. General Secretary Christian Heye flatly conceded that the party, polling between four and eight percent at the time, had no chance of providing a chancellor and said: "We are neither imagining things nor are we megalomaniacal." He blamed the "inflation" of the term's usage in forcing their hand; he further noted that parties without a Chancellor candidate faced disadvantages, such as no invitations to certain televised debates (most of which were held only between formal Chancellor candidates).