Federal election: Who wants in, who goes? The Bundestag is reorganizing

Some want to become members of the Bundestag for the first time or after a long time, while others are turning to new tasks outside of parliament. For all of them, the election on February 23rd represents a turning point.

These candidates want to enter parliament:

Boris Pistorius (64, SPD)

Germany’s most popular politician in polls has so far only had a taste of the Bundestag from the government bench, but now the defense minister also wants to be a member of parliament. He is running as a direct candidate in the Hannover-Stadt II constituency in Lower Saxony, an SPD stronghold. He is also in third place on the SPD state list in Lower Saxony.

It is also uncertain for Pistorius’ cabinet colleague whether she will retain her ministerial office after the federal election. She is in fourth place on the Hessian state list and also wants to get a direct mandate in the Main-Taunus constituency. In the most recent state elections in Hesse, she achieved a disastrous election result as the SPD’s top candidate – and remained Federal Minister of the Interior instead of becoming Prime Minister.

Wolfgang Schmidt (54, SPD)

The head of the Chancellery is applying for a direct mandate in the Hamburg constituency of Eimsbüttel. With his candidacy, the confidant of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) follows the SPD foreign politician Niels Annen, who is not running again. The direct mandate narrowly went to the Greens in the last federal election. Schmidt is also number one on the Hamburg SPD state list.

Thomas Haldenwang (64, CDU)

The fact that he now wants to become a member of the Bundestag himself also has to do with right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism, says the former head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In order to enter parliament, he has to wrest the mandate in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, from the SPD domestic politician Helge Lindh, who won the last two elections here.

Hendrik Streeck (47, CDU)

The prominent virologist wants to take off his medical coat and enter federal politics: To do this, Streeck must win the direct mandate for the CDU in the former North Rhine-Westphalia constituency of the first Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in Bonn. In the last election, the Green Party candidate won here. During the corona pandemic, the doctor became one of the best-known scientists in the country through numerous media appearances.

Bodo Ramelow (68, The Left)

The first left-wing Prime Minister would like to be involved in the Bundestag again after a 15-year absence: He is part of the “Silberlocke Mission,” on which the Left’s hopes lie. Ramelow should, if possible, win his Thuringian constituency of Erfurt-Weimar-Weimarer Land and win at least three direct mandates with the two other prominent party seniors Gregor Gysi (76) and Dietmar Bartsch (66): Then, thanks to the basic mandate clause, the party would also be in the Bundestag with parliamentary group strength move in if it fails to meet the five percent hurdle with two votes.

Maximilian Krah (47, AfD)

The EU parliamentarian, who is controversial even in the AfD, wants to move to the Bundestag. His party is nominating him as a direct candidate in the Saxon constituency of Chemnitzer Umland – Erzgebirgskreis II. Due to, among other things, reports about suspected Russia and China connections and statements about the National Socialist SS that were perceived as relativizing, he was not included in the AfD delegation to the EU Parliament.

Hubert Aiwanger (53, Free Voters)

With their federal chairman as the top candidate, the Bavarian Free Voters are entering the fight for entry into the Bundestag for the first time. They want to make the Bundestag “the largest town hall in the republic,” says Aiwanger. Election researchers consider success through the second vote result or through winning three direct mandates to be rather unlikely.

Caroline Bosbach (34, CDU)

The daughter of the long-time CDU federal politician Wolfgang Bosbach is running as a direct candidate in the Rhine-Berg constituency in North Rhine-Westphalia against, among others, the former Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). The regulation manager at a network operator was seen in the RTL show “Let’s Dance” in 2022.

These MPs, some of whom have been with us for many years, are breaking new ground:

Cem Özdemir (59, Greens)

The Federal Minister of Agriculture and Research would like to succeed Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (76, Greens) after the state elections in Baden-Württemberg in spring 2026. The former Green Party leader is therefore withdrawing from the Bundestag.

Renate Künast (69, Green Party)

The former Federal Agriculture Minister and former Green Party parliamentary group leader announced in July 2024 that she would not run again: “It is now time to make room for younger people.” Künast has been a member of the Bundestag since 2002.

After 34 years in the Bundestag, the currently longest-serving member says “Hello”. In his last speech in the plenary session at the beginning of December, the former Federal Transport Minister called for better coordination of renewable energies with the expansion of networks, storage power plants and gas power plants.

Petra Pau (61, The Left)

“2025 will be my 27th year in the Bundestag,” said the Berliner back in October. Even after her time in parliament, she wants to remain politically active. For years she suffered from a voice disorder and was sometimes unable to speak well. At almost 19 years old, she is currently the longest-serving Vice President of the Bundestag.

Gesine Lötzsch (63, The Left)

Like Sören Pellmann and Gregor Gysi, she defended her direct mandate in 2021 and thus secured the Left’s entry into the current Bundestag with parliamentary strength, even though the party only received 4.9 percent of the second votes at the time. The long-time MP even sat alongside Petra Pau for a legislative session as one of the only two leftists in parliament.

Albrecht Glaser (83, AfD)

His party colleague Alexander Gauland, who was the same age, backed away from his retirement and is now running again in the upcoming federal election. But for Glaser it’s over. He is retiring from active politics after 7.5 years in the Bundestag.

The SPD foreign expert has sat in the Bundestag since 1998. The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee has long advocated for sufficient military support for Ukraine, which is being attacked by Russia. “It was clear to me that I wouldn’t retire as a member of the Bundestag, as a politician,” he says.

Michelle Müntefering (44, SPD)

The wife of the former SPD chairman Franz Müntefering (84) gives family reasons for her withdrawal from the Bundestag after a good eleven years. The MP from Herne in North Rhine-Westphalia wants to spend more time with her husband: “You can’t make up for time together, I hope that there are still a few years left together.”

Canan Bayram (58, Greens)

The well-known Berlin lawyer, who belongs to the left wing of the party, has been a member of the Bundestag since 2017. But she is no longer prepared to become a “fig leaf for my group, which focuses its work less on human rights than on populist discourses.” However, it is also not certain whether her district association Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg-Prenzlauer Berg Ost would have nominated her as a direct candidate again.