Next state election: Özdemir wants to become the top candidate in Baden-Württemberg

Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir wants to run as the Green Party’s top candidate in Baden-Württemberg in the state elections in spring 2026. “I would like to serve you, dear fellow citizens, as Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg and give everything for this country,” writes Özdemir in a letter to the citizens. According to a spokeswoman, Özdemir wants to continue in his office as Federal Minister of Agriculture.

The 58-year-old has long been considered the most promising candidate for the top candidacy. Incumbent Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) is no longer running in the election. Only Özdemir is as well-known as Kretschmann, the party has consistently said in recent months. In addition, the Federal Agriculture Minister can draw on a long history of political experience and, like Kretschmann, is counted as part of the pragmatic “Realo” wing of his party.

Özdemir’s most promising challenger will probably be the new CDU state chairman and parliamentary group leader Manuel Hagel. The 36-year-old is the CDU’s new strong man in the state and replaced State Interior Minister Thomas Strobl as head of the southwest CDU at the end of 2023.

The election is likely to be a big challenge for the Greens

However, the omens for Özdemir’s candidacy could be better: the state elections in spring 2026, for which an exact election date has not yet been set, are likely to be a major challenge for the Greens. In opinion polls, the CDU was recently well ahead of the Greens in the southwest with a lead of more than ten percentage points – the eco-party also suffered heavy losses in all of Baden-Württemberg’s urban and rural districts in the European elections.

In the state elections in March 2021, the Greens achieved 32.6 percent, the CDU got 24.1 percent, the SPD got 11 percent, the FDP got 10.5 percent and the AfD got 9.7 percent.

And people in the southwest also tend to believe that the next Prime Minister could be called Manuel Hagel. According to a survey by the Kantar research institute, 46 percent of respondents believe it is likely that the CDU leader will win the next state election. Only 23 percent of those surveyed believe that Özdemir can do this, as shown in the “Baden Württemberg Report” for October on behalf of Privat.Radio.

Son of Turkish guest workers from Bad Urach

However, the Greens like to refer to the year 2015 in view of the current survey situation. At that time, the polls showed the CDU with more than 15 percentage points ahead of the ruling Greens – but the latter still won the state elections in 2016 and Kretschmann remained Prime Minister.

Özdemir comes from Bad Urach at the foot of the Swabian Alb and is the son of Turkish guest workers. After completing secondary school and training as an educator, Özdemir studied social pedagogy. He has been a member of the Greens since 1981 and was the party’s federal chairman from 2008 to 2018. In 1994 he was elected to the Bundestag – as the first member of parliament with Turkish roots.

Anger over bonus miles collected for work but used privately and a personal loan were followed by a federal political break in the USA and Brussels from 2002 onwards. From 2004 to 2008, Özdemir was a member of the EU Parliament. He has been sitting in the Bundestag again since 2013, and in 2021 he won the direct mandate in the Stuttgart I constituency with 40 percent of the first votes. In December 2021, he became Federal Minister of Agriculture in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s (SPD) traffic light cabinet.

The Greens have not always fared well with farmers. Özdemir distanced himself early on from the federal government’s decision to abolish tax breaks for agricultural diesel. However, he still suffered the anger of the farmers.