 At the 2009 election, he unsuccessfully contested the single member constituency of Heidelberg.Between 2007 and 2009, Kuhn was one of 32 members of the Second Commission on the modernization of the federal state ("Föderalismuskommission II"), which had been established to reform the division of powers between federal and state authorities in Germany.On 21 October 2012 Kuhn was elected Lord Mayor of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg with 52.9% of the votes.