He announced his candidacy for Czech president on 29 June 2017, as the candidate of the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA), which collected the signatures needed to run and also supported him financially.
Incumbent president Miloš Zeman commented that he did not know Kulhánek very well but remembered him as a successful manager of Škoda Auto.
[6] A conservative, Kulhánek stated that he has always been close to ODA and Freedom Union, and he also has sympathy for some politicians of the Civic Democratic Party.
Kulhánek opposes Muslim immigration, and has stated that he does not want Mosques in the Czech Republic.
[9] Kulhánek is pro-European and supports adoption of the Euro in the Czech Republic, but he opposes the politics of Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron.