[1] After graduating from the Liebfrauenschule Sigmaringen in 1989, Gönner initially trained as a legal clerk, which she completed with a diploma in 1992.

From 2000 to 2012, Gönner was part of the federal executive of the CDU, under leadership of the party's chairwoman Angela Merkel.

[5] After the 2011 state parliamentary elections, in which Minister President Stefan Mappus no longer achieved a majority, she was considered a promising candidate for the chairmanship of the Baden-Württemberg CDU; however, after Gönner, who was counted among the closest leadership circle around Mappus,[6] failed in the election for the parliamentary group chairmanship in the state parliament against Peter Hauk, she withdrew her candidacy.

[1] In 2004, Gönner was appointed State Minister for Social Affairs in the government of Minister-President Erwin Teufel of Baden-Württemberg.

In the subsequent governments of Ministers-President Günther Oettinger and Stefan Mappus, she served as State Minister of the Environment from 2005 to 2011.

[10] In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2009 federal elections, Gönner was part of the working group on the environment, agriculture and consumer protection, led by Ilse Aigner and Michael Kauch.

[11] In 2011, news media reported that Gönner was the preferred candidate of Chancellor Angela Merkel to succeed Matthias Kurth as president of the Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Posts and Railway (BNetzA);[12] after negotiations, however, Jochen Homann was eventually appointed.