The deadline for submitting applications has passed, and all the candidates for the second round of the legislative elections are known. Find out who qualified and who withdrew.
08:45 – Total uncertainty for François Ruffin (NFP) in the Somme
The latter should benefit from the transfer of votes from the Ensemble candidate, Albane Branlant: “I make a difference between political adversaries and the enemies of the Republic” she declared when she withdrew her candidacy. Will her votes be enough? It’s hard to say, particularly given the very good score achieved by the RN in this constituency with more than 40% of the votes cast. “We’ll go get them, with our teeth, in the coming week. Let’s fight!” declared François Ruffin after the first round. The answer will be this Sunday at 8 p.m. to find out the result of this constituency which promises to be particularly explosive.
08:32 – The Minister of Agriculture in an unfavorable position against the RN
In the 1st constituency of Loir-et-Cher, the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau qualified for the second round of the legislative elections (34.56%) but is in an unfavorable position against the RN candidate Marine Bardet (35.22%). He could, however, benefit from the transfer of votes from the NFP candidate Reda Belkadi (15% in the first round), who had his investiture withdrawn by La France insoumise for anti-Semitic messages published in 2018.
With only a few hundred votes behind, Marc Fesneau can legitimately hope to win in the second round, but nothing is yet decided for this member of the government who will start with a slight delay on the starting line, Sunday, in the second round of the early legislative elections in one of the many duels opposing the presidential majority to the National Rally.
08:05 – Calvados: Elisabeth Borne elected… thanks to the Insoumis?
In the 6th constituency of Calvados, the situation may seem comical to some, dramatic to others, or even unprecedented. At the end of the first round, the NFP candidate Noé Gauchard (23%), decided to withdraw to leave the field clear… Elisabeth Borne. The former Prime Minister, who came second (28%) behind RN candidate Nicolas Calbrix (36%), will have the heavy responsibility of bringing together the far left of the French political spectrum up to the presidential majority and Horizons.
After countless upheavals between her former government and the left-wing deputies, particularly on the stormy adoption of the pension reform, Elisabeth Borne could well be elected by benefiting from the transfer of votes from the Insoumis Noé Gauchard. Indeed, the 23% achieved by the candidate who came in 3rd position in Calvados should, for the most part, go into Elisabeth Borne’s bag. Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s instructions being clear on the subject, no votes for the National Rally.
02/07/24 – 22:37 – How many people were kept despite the threat from the National Rally?
END OF LIVE – In the camp of the presidential majority, if most of the candidates who came third withdrew to block the RN in the second round, 16 maintained their candidacy despite the risk. There are 12 candidates who have done the same on the side of the Republicans (without Ciotti) and various right, and seven candidates from the left, advance The world.
02/07/24 – 22:10 – Only one quadrangular left after a withdrawal in the Rhône
The unexpected withdrawal of Dominique Despras (MoDem/Renaissance), running in the 8th constituency of the Rhône, has changed the situation. While there were still two quadrangulars before his withdrawal, from now on, only voters in the 4th constituency of Vendée will still have the choice between four candidates on Sunday. Voters will thus be able to vote for Véronique Besse (Div. right, 39.31%), Jacques Proux (RN, 22.88%), Ilias Nagnonhou (Renaissance/Ensemble, 18.46%) or Julie Mariel-Godard (PCF/NFP, 18.42%).
02/07/24 – 21:34 – After submitting his candidacy, Dominique Despras withdraws
The MoDem/Ensemble candidate has finally backtracked. Although he had filed his candidacy at the prefecture to be a candidate in the second round of the legislative elections in the 8th constituency of the Rhône, where a four-way race was to be played out, Dominique Despras preferred to withdraw. “For me, being so numerous in the second round was not reasonable. The national MoDem had told me that as long as the 4th candidate remained I could stay, but it is a personal choice,” he justified himself to BFM Lyon.
02/07/24 – 21:12 – What about the number of triangulars?
The figure announced on Sunday was incredible: 306 three-way races were initially supposed to take place in the second round of the legislative elections. But in order to block the National Rally, many candidates preferred to leave the race. However, in no fewer than 95 constituencies, it will still be possible to choose between three candidates on Sunday, July 7.
Triangular races most often have the effect of facilitating the victory of the candidate who came first in the first round of voting. In this case, many candidates from the National Rally would be able to win. Unless a republican front is formed and the political parties call for the withdrawal of their candidates who came third to block the far right, knowing that they themselves have little chance of winning.
The member parties of the New Popular Front have opted for this strategy and announced the systematic withdrawal of their candidates who qualified in third place in a triangular. Deprived of a candidate, the parties then plan to vote for the candidate facing the RN, not out of support but above all to prevent a victory for the RN and its allies.
While the left has been clear about the withdrawal of its least well-placed candidates, the presidential majority is more vague with instructions that differ depending on the personalities. While Gabriel Attal, Prime Minister and leader of the presidential camp during this campaign, is calling for the withdrawal of all candidates who came third in favor of an opponent other than the RN, others refuse to see their candidates step aside if it is to leave the way clear for La France Insoumise.
Each party has presented hundreds of candidates in the legislative elections, but some are to be followed more closely in their constituency because of the electoral stakes, the possible political swings expected or the government functions occupied by the candidates.
Among the rebels, two camps are opposed. First, there are those invested by the New Popular Front: François Ruffin came 2nd behind the RN in his constituency (Somme), but also heavyweights like Manuel Bompard (Bouches-du-Rhône) or Clémentine Autain (Seine-Saint-Denis). Then there are those who, although rebels and/or outgoing deputies, were not invested by the Mélenchonist party, according to them because of the disagreements they expressed with the leader: Alexis Corbière (Seine-Saint-Denis), Danielle Simonnet (Paris), Frédéric Mathieu (Ille-et-Vilaine) and Hendrik Davi (Bouches-du-Rhône). LFI also decided to invest the NPA activist Philippe Poutou in Aude and the latter narrowly qualified.
On the socialist side, François Hollande is still a candidate in Corrèze. Another surprising candidacy: that of Emmanuel Macron’s former Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, invested by Place publique who came out on top in Yvelines. The latter had left the government following the vote on the immigration law.
While 24 ministers are candidates in the legislative elections, none managed to get elected in the first round. Qualified for duels or three-way races in the second round, will those who came in first be elected like Gabriel Attal or Stéphane Séjourné in Hauts-de-Seine or Gérald Darmanin in the North? Will those who came in second be able to reverse the trend? And will those who finished third withdraw?
We must also keep an eye on former ministers such as the former head of government Elisabeth Borne in Calvados or the former Minister of Health Olivier Véran.
Within the far-right union, several candidates were elected in the first round, including several heavyweights. But there are still several candidates in the running, including Eric Ciotti. The contested president of the Republicans came out on top in his constituency of the Alpes-Maritimes, but faces a three-way race in which the majority candidate who came third refuses to withdraw. Among the rare outgoing LR deputies who followed Eric Ciotti in his alliance, there is Meyer Habib, in the 8th constituency of French people living outside France.
He is not part of the far-right union and even left Les Républicains because of the alliance concluded by Eric Ciotti, but he remains located on the right of the political spectrum: Aurélien Pradié. An independent candidate, he nevertheless came out on top in his constituency of Lot.