2018 Christian Democratic Union of Germany leadership election

The 2018 Christian Democratic Union leadership election was held in Hamburg on 7 December 2018. This is after Angela Merkel's decision in October 2018 not to stand for party leader at the 2018 party conference following the party's bad performance in the 2018 Hessian state election and low numbers in national polls.
On 29 October 2018, both the CDU's General Secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and the Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn announced their candidacy in the election. This was followed by Merkel's arch-rival Friedrich Merz announced his bid on 30 October 2018.
Kramp-Karrenbauer was elected leader by winning 45.05% of the vote. Merz won 39.24% of the vote and Spahn won 15.72% of the vote.