Jérôme Cahuzac failed to reach the second round of the legislative elections. Failed return for the former minister
He wanted to be the surprise, he ultimately missed his bet. Jérôme Cahuzac was eliminated in the first round of the legislative elections, this Sunday June 30, 2024. The former minister of François Hollande was in the running for the 3rd constituency of Lot-et-Garonne. He who asked voters for a “second chance” only collected 14.63% of the votes cast, far from the 41.01% collected by Annick Cousin of the RN. The one who left political life in 2013 is positioned 4th in this election, behind Guillaume Lepers (various right, 24.91%) and Xavier Czapla of the New Popular Front (18.45%). Jérôme Cahuzac will therefore not have shaken the outgoing RN deputy, in the running to run for a second term.
What is the Cahuzac affair?
Jérôme Cahuzac was appointed Minister Delegate for the Budget at the start of François Hollande’s mandate, on May 12, 2012. From December of the same year, Médiapart accused him of having undeclared bank accounts abroad. “I don’t have, I’ve never had an account in Switzerland,” he said two months later on the set of BFMTV. He continues to refute the accusations before the National Assembly. However, on March 19, 2013, he resigned from the government of Jean-Marc Ayrault. On April 2, he finally admitted the existence of an account abroad. He was expelled from the Socialist Party a few days later.
Jérôme Cahuzac’s trial for tax fraud and laundering of tax fraud began in September 2016. He was sentenced three months later by the Paris Criminal Court to three years in prison and five years of ineligibility. He appealed and was tried again in 2018. His lawyer was Éric Dupond-Moretti. This time, he was sentenced to two years in prison and two years suspended, a fine of 300,000 euros and five years of ineligibility. His prison sentence was reduced to wearing an electronic bracelet in his residence in Corsica. His conditional release was confirmed on September 8, 2020.