Campaigning for whom?

Abstract This research note examines issue salience in the 2025 German federal election, focusing on how voters’ top priorities differ across gender, age, education, and voting intention. Using data from a survey conducted among users of the voting advice application Voteswiper during the last three weeks before the election in February 2025, we analyze which topics were most important for different social and partisan groups during the campaign. Our findings reveal distinct patterns: women prioritize social justice and climate policy more than men, while men emphasize migration and economic policy. Younger voters show stronger concerns for climate policy and social inequality, whereas older voters prioritize migration and economic policy. These gender and age-based differences are not uniform but rather depend on the moderation of the other variable. Partisan differences largely align with established issue ownership patterns, with Green supporters emphasizing climate policy, AfD supporters focusing on migration, and FDP and CDU/CSU supporters prioritizing economic concerns. These variations highlight how social and political identities shape voter preferences and indicate potential mismatches between campaign narratives and electorate priorities. A case in point is the CDU/CSU’s campaign strategy with a focus on migration being at odds with their electorate prioritizing economic policy.