Aigner's supporters and the unresolved CDU choice
The CSU wants Aigner, the 61-year-old president of Bavaria's state parliament and a former federal agriculture minister, to become the governing parties' joint candidate, according to tagesschau.de. If elected, she would be Germany's first female head of state.
CSU leader Markus Söder has made a case for his party's turn in the presidency, noting that it has supplied neither a federal chancellor nor a federal president in 75 years. Aigner also has support from outside the CSU: SPD parliamentary leader Matthias Miersch praised her democratic convictions and stance against right-wing extremism, while Bremen Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte endorsed her.
The CDU, however, continues to assert its right to put forward a candidate of its own. Names under discussion include Karin Prien, Julia Klöckner, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Hesse Minister-President Boris Rhein. Author Juli Zeh has also been mentioned as a possible contender.
Junge Freiheit attacks the selection process
In an October 27, 2026, commentary, Hauke criticizes what he sees as bargaining over gender, party affiliation and support from the Social Democrats and Greens. His opening mocks the shifting demands for a woman from the CDU or CSU who could also attract votes from those other parties.
Hauke characterizes the potential female candidates as mediocre and argues that the search illustrates public frustration with the political system. The commentary's headline presents the bargaining as a symptom of a system in decline, while its photo caption describes the succession debate involving Steinmeier and Aigner as undignified. Those assessments are Hauke's characterization of the process.
The election timetable and voting rules
The 18th Federal Convention, or Bundesversammlung, is scheduled to choose the next president on January 30, 2027, at the Reichstag building in Berlin. Steinmeier's second five-year term ends on March 18, 2027. Article 54(2) of Germany's Basic Law bars him from seeking a third consecutive term.
The convention has 1,260 members, divided equally between 630 Bundestag lawmakers and 630 delegates selected by the state parliaments. A candidate must receive at least 631 votes, an absolute majority, to win on either of the first two ballots. A plurality is sufficient on a third ballot.
Within the Bundestag's 630-member contingent, the CDU/CSU has 208 seats, the AfD 150, the SPD 120, the Greens 85 and the Left 64. Across the convention as a whole, tagesschau.de reports that the CDU/CSU and SPD together will hold an absolute majority. The CDU/CSU will form the largest group, followed by the AfD and then the Greens.
Outside the party discussions, a petition proposing comedian and author Hape Kerkeling for president has attracted more than 160,000 signatures. Kerkeling told Der Spiegel that he would not stand in the way of the idea of a queer person becoming head of state.
