File - In this Wednesday, Feb.17, 2021 file photo, Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder (CSU) speaks at the party's Political Ash Wednesday in front of cardboard audience in Passau, Germany. Markus Soeder is many things: state governor of Bavaria, Star Trek fan, a conservative for whom combating climate change is an article of faith. The question Germans are asking now is: can the 54-year-old win enough backing across the political spectrum to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in September. (Peter Kneffel/Pool via AP, file)

Bavarian state governor Markus Soeder attends an Associated Press interview in Nuremberg, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Markus Soeder is many things: state governor of Bavaria, Star Trek fan, a conservative for whom combating climate change is an article of faith. The question Germans are asking now is: can the 54-year-old win enough backing across the political spectrum to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in September. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder (CSU) speaks at the party's Political Ash Wednesday in Passau. Germany, Wednesday, Feb.17, 2021 Wednesday, Feb.17, 2021. Markus Soeder is many things: state governor of Bavaria, Star Trek fan, a conservative for whom combating climate change is an article of faith. The question Germans are asking now is: can the 54-year-old win enough backing across the political spectrum to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in September. (Peter Kneffel/Pool via AP)

Bavarian state governor Markus Soeder attends an Associated Press interview in Nuremberg, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Markus Soeder is many things: state governor of Bavaria, Star Trek fan, a conservative for whom combating climate change is an article of faith. The question Germans are asking now is: can the 54-year-old win enough backing across the political spectrum to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in September. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder (CSU) speaks at the party's Political Ash Wednesday in Passau. Germany, Wednesday, Feb.17, 2021 Wednesday, Feb.17, 2021. Markus Soeder is many things: state governor of Bavaria, Star Trek fan, a conservative for whom combating climate change is an article of faith. The question Germans are asking now is: can the 54-year-old win enough backing across the political spectrum to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in September. (Peter Kneffel/Pool via AP)

FILE - In this Tuesday, July 14, 2020 file photo, German Chancellor Angela, left, and Markus Soeder, right, Governour of the German state of Bavaria, talk during a boat tour in Priem Am Chiemsee, Germany. Markus Soeder is many things: state governor of Bavaria, Star Trek fan, a conservative for whom combating climate change is an article of faith. The question Germans are asking now is: can the 54-year-old win enough backing across the political spectrum to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in September. (Peter Kneffel/DPA via AP, Pool, file)

FILE - In this file photo dated Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, with Bavarian state governor Markus Soeder, during a news conference at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany. The 54-year-old Soeder is fighting to win enough backing across the political spectrum in hope of succeeding Angela Merkel as chancellor of Germany in Autumn 2021. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, FILE)

Markus Soeder, Prime Minister of Bavaria, center, takes part in a video conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and Bavarian district councils and mayors in the Bavarian State Chancellery in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. (Peter Kneffel/Pool via AP)

FILE - In this Tuesday, July 14, 2020 file photo, German Chancellor Angela, front left, and Markus Soeder, front right, Governour of the German state of Bavaria, attend a meeting of the Bavarian state cabinet at the mirror gallery of the 'New Palace' on the Herrechiemsee island, Germany. Markus Soeder is many things: state governor of Bavaria, Star Trek fan, a conservative for whom combating climate change is an article of faith. The question Germans are asking now is: can the 54-year-old win enough backing across the political spectrum to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in September. (Peter Kneffel/DPA via AP, Pool)

Bavarian state governor Markus Soeder attends an Associated Press interview in Nuremberg, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Markus Soeder is many things: state governor of Bavaria, Star Trek fan, a conservative for whom combating climate change is an article of faith. The question Germans are asking now is: can the 54-year-old win enough backing across the political spectrum to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in September. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)