Bavarian politician Ilse Aigner is seen as the frontrunner to succeed Frank-Walter Steinmeier as Germany's president. According to reports citing sources close to the Christian Democratic Union, Aigner has won the support of the conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the social democrats SPD, significantly increasing her chances of being elected.

The 61-year-old is currently the president of the Bavarian parliament. Before entering politics, she worked in the family business and then as a worker assembling electrical components for helicopters, in a company that was later acquired by Airbus. Her political career began in 1994, when she was elected to the Bavarian regional parliament. In 1998, she entered the Bundestag for the first time, and later served as Minister of Agriculture in Angela Merkel's government. Aigner has no university degree or high school diploma, but she managed to build a significant career in German politics.

If elected, she would become Germany's first female president and the first Bavarian Christian Socialist politician to hold the office. Aigner is Catholic, unmarried and has no children.

The German Federal President is elected by the Federal Assembly, consisting of 630 members of the Bundestag and 630 representatives from the 16 states. The next vote is expected to take place on January 30, 2027.

The support of the CDU/CSU and SPD gives Aigner an advantage in the race for the post, while Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also expected to seek the support of the Greens. However, her candidacy has not yet been made official.