North Rhine-Westphalia’s leading Christian Democratic Union (CDU) reaffirmed Hendrik Wüst as its chairman at a party congress held Saturday in Bonn. The 50-year-old secured an overwhelming majority, receiving 98 percent of the delegates’ votes with no opposing candidates.
This outcome follows his previous elections to the position in 2021, where he succeeded Armin Laschet with 98.3 percent support and a confirmation in 2023 with 96.7 percent. Within the party, Wüst is frequently discussed as a potential rival to federal party leader Friedrich Merz, though Merz is publicly demonstrating unity and is scheduled to address the congress.
The NRW-CDU aims to leverage the momentum generated at the congress in the lead-up to the local elections on September 14th. Current polling data suggests a strong performance is anticipated in municipalities and districts across the state. Looking further ahead to the next state parliament elections, not scheduled until 2027, the CDU currently leads with 35 to 39 percent of the vote. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) are currently competing for second place, with both parties polling between 14 and 18 percent.