Prior to the 2005 Federal Election, Wulff had been mentioned as a potential candidate for the German chancellorship. Surprisingly, in a spring 2005 poll, 28 percent of all respondents named Wulff as their preferred candidate for the Christian Democrat nomination for Chancellor in the 2006 election. As Wulff only began his first term as Prime Minister in early 2003, he is likely to dismiss such speculations. in December 2014, Wulff was re-elected deputy leader of the federal party with about 86 per cent of all delegates supporting him.