Anyone who considers good training, proven qualifications and useful professional experience to be important will find this personality interesting.

Stefan Naas, the top candidate of the Hessian FDP for the state elections next fall, is a bank clerk and holds a doctorate in law.

The forty-nine year old worked in the tax office and in two state ministries.

As a Member of Parliament, he has been dealing with economic issues for four years.

He is now aiming for the position of Economics Minister in 2023.

In normal working life, an applicant with such qualifications would have a legitimate chance of getting the desired position.

But different laws apply in politics.

Majorities are at stake here, and the Hessian FDP has been in opposition for many years given its poor election results.

Even a brilliant CV fades and many a career dream bursts.

But Naas knows the rules of politics.

In any case, as mayor of his home town of Steinbach, he doesn't seem to have done badly.

After the first term, he was re-elected in 2015 with more than 87 percent.

The fact that he now replaces the head of the parliamentary group René Rock in the role of the Hessian top candidate is the will of the party.

This was shown by the voting results of the two at the delegates' meeting at the weekend.

Federal policy could be crucial

The internal power struggle that preceded the votes appears to have passed without major upheaval.

Rock has to and can live with the decision.

The subject that is close to his heart, early childhood education, continues to play an important role in the party's program alongside economic policy.

As an exclamation point, the Hessian party leader Bettina Stark-Watzinger is working on the topic in Berlin in her capacity as Federal Minister for Education and Research.

Incidentally, she landed a coup by winning over the Hessian MP Stefan Müller to be responsible for climate research in her house as department head in the future.

Economy, education and climate form a triad with which Naas can happily go into the election campaign.

However, he had a major advantage in the mayoral races.

In the end, everything depended primarily on his person.

However, the outcome of the state elections is largely influenced by federal politics.