Thomas Gebhart (born 20 December 1971) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

from the state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

since 2009. From 2018 until 2021, Gebhart served (alongside Sabine Weiss) one of two Parliamentary State Secretaries for Health.

Early career

In 1998, Gebhart worked as parliamentary assistant to

Heiner Geißler Heiner Geißler (3 March 1930 – 12 September 2017) was a German politician with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and a federal minister from 1982 to 1985. Career Born Heinrichjosef Georg Geißler in Gleisweiler, he studied law an ...

. From 2002 until 2003, he was an employee of German chemical company

BASF BASF Societas Europaea, SE () is a German multinational corporation, multinational chemical company and the List of largest chemical producers, largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The ...

Political career

Career in state politics

From 2003 until 2009, Gebhart was a member of the State Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate. He served as his parliamentary group's spokesperson on environmental policy from 2006 until 2009.

Member of the German Parliament, 2009–present

Gebhart first became a member of the Bundestag in the

2009 German federal election Federal elections took place on 27 September 2009 to elect the members of the 17th Bundestag (parliament) of Germany. Preliminary results showed that the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union ...

. From 2009 until 2017, he served on the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety. From 2018 to 2021, Gebhart was (alongside Sabine Weiss) one of two Parliamentary State Secretaries for Health. In addition to his committee assignments, Gebhart is a member of the German-British Parliamentary Friendship Group and the German-French Parliamentary Friendship Group. He has been a member of the German delegation to the

Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly The Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly (french: Assemblée parlementaire franco-allemande; german: Deutsch-Französische Parlamentarische Versammlung, ''DFPV'') is a joint body of the German Bundestag and the French National Assembly formed to ...

since 2022.

Political positions

In June 2017, Gebhart voted against his parliamentary group’s majority and in favor of Germany’s introduction of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

. In 2019, Gebhardt joined 14 members of his parliamentary group who, in an open letter, called for the party to rally around

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

and party chairwoman

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (; Kramp; born 9 August 1962), sometimes referred to by her initials of AKK, is a retired German politician who served as Minister of Defence from 2019 to 2021 and as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from ...

amid criticism voiced by conservatives

Friedrich Merz Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (born 11 November 1955) is a German lawyer and politician, serving as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 31 January 2022 and as leader of the Union parliamentary group as well as the Leader of ...

and

Roland Koch Roland Koch (born 24 March 1958) is a German jurist and former conservative politician of the Christian Democratic Union (Germany), CDU. He was the 7th Minister-President, Minister President of Hesse from 7 April 1999, immediately becoming the 5 ...

. Ahead of the Christian Democrats’

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

, he publicly endorsed in 2020

Armin Laschet Armin Laschet (; born 18 February 1961) is a German politician who served as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 June 2017 to 26 October 2021. He served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 22 January 2021 to 3 ...

to succeed Kramp-Karrenbauer as the party’s chair.Andreas Schröder (26 February 2020)
Zwei für Merz, einer für Laschet: Wen Pfälzer CDU-Abgeordnete unterstützen wollen
''

Die Rheinpfalz ''Die Rheinpfalz'' is a German–language regional newspaper based in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The paper is one of the leading newspapers which serve the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History and profile ''Die Rheinpfalz'' was first published in ...

''.

References

External links

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Bundestag biography
1971 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for Rhineland-Palatinate Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Parliamentary State Secretaries of Germany Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany {{Germany-CDU-politician-stub