on 1 october 2011, bilger was elected district chairman of the cdu north württemberg, the largest of the four cdu districts in baden-württemberg. he won clearly against his competitor, the former secretary of state for arts, dietrich birk. after his election as cdu district chairman, he ran again as country chairman of the junge union and was replaced in this office on 12 november 2011 by the mannheim cdu city councillor nikolas löbel.