At its 33rd party conference, the CDU has elected Armin Laschet as its new chairman. But what impact will the competition for leadership within the party have on the perception of the party and on the CDU’s election results in the upcoming German Federal Election in September 2021? While the profile of party leaders is of increasing importance for the electoral behavior of voters’, empirical studies shows that the public competition for the party leadership in governing parties such as the CDU leads to declining vote shares in the next general election.