Günther wants to lead the CDU over 40 percent again in the 2027 election

Prime Minister Daniel Günther is the CDU's top candidate for the state elections in Schleswig-Holstein in around five months. A state party conference on Saturday in Neumünster elected the 53-year-old to number one on the state list with almost 97 percent, as his party announced. Günther has been head of government in Schleswig-Holstein since 2017, and he has also led the CDU as state leader since 2016.

In Schleswig-Holstein, the state parliament will be elected on April 18, 2027. The CDU has ruled there since 2017 - initially in a three-party coalition with the Greens and FDP, and since 2022 in a two-party alliance with the Greens. Günther is one of the most prominent representatives of a middle course of the CDU, which is struggling to find its direction in the face of election defeats and poor poll numbers.

Günther made it clear that he was aiming for a result of more than 40 percent in the coming election. “I’m not competing to achieve a worse result than last time,” he said. In 2022, the CDU achieved its best result since 1983 with 43.4 percent and only missed an absolute majority by one seat. Since then, Günther has ruled with the Greens.

“Elections can be won in the political center”

“Polarization is not a law of nature,” he recently explained, referring to the outcome of the midterm elections in the USA, in which US President Donald Trump’s Republicans lost. “Elections can be won in the political center.”

“With the CDU, Schleswig-Holstein remains on course,” explained party leader and Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who took part in the state party conference in Neumünster. Günther fights for the interests of his homeland. “To ensure that it stays that way, we will fight together for a strong result for the CDU in the state elections.”

The field of top candidates in the north is now largely complete. The Greens are entering the race with State Social Minister Aminata Touré, the SPD nominated the former mayor of Kiel and current state leader Ulf Kampf.

The left's top candidate is its Kiel district chairwoman Johanna Klitzschmüller, the FDP nominated state and state parliamentary group leader Christopher Vogt. The South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW) elected state parliamentary group leader Christian Dirschauer. The AfD has not yet decided on a candidate.

The most recent surveys from Schleswig-Holstein are already a few months old. In June, an Insa survey for the "Bild" newspaper saw Günther's CDU well ahead with 27 percent. This was closely followed by the AfD with 18 percent, the Greens with 17 percent and the SPD with 15 percent. The Left was seen at seven percent, the SSW and the FDP were each at six percent.

The election in Schleswig-Holstein is one of five state elections next year. At the same time, a new state parliament will be voted on in Saarland on April 18th, followed by elections in the most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia on April 25th. There will also be the state elections in Bremen on May 30th and the state elections in Lower Saxony on September 26th.