Former minister Jérôme Cahuzac is making a return to politics in these legislative elections. He is running in Lot-et-Garonne against an outgoing RN deputy. For what result?
“Who has never asked for a second chance?” Pleads Jérôme Cahuzac on BFMTV. The former Minister Delegate for the Budget under François Hollande chose the early legislative elections to sign his big return to politics. Or at least to try. Because in the 3rd constituency of Lot-et-Garonne, where he is running, nothing is less certain than his victory. The constituency, for which Jérôme Cahuzac was a deputy on several occasions in the past, was won by the National Rally in 2022.
Sadly known for the tax fraud affair that bears his name, Jérôme Cahuac left politics in 2013, resigning from the government of Jean-Marc Ayrault before being excluded from the Socialist Party. In 2018, he was sentenced for “tax evasion and laundering of tax fraud” to four years in prison, two of which were suspended, five years of ineligibility and a fine of 300,000 euros. “It’s the past, I have paid my debt, I have the right to present myself before the voters”, now believes the former Minister of the Budget.
Cahuzac candidate without nomination
Jérôme Cahuzac is therefore running for the legislative elections without having requested “investiture from the New Popular Front and nor from any party of the presidential majority”. He will also be facing a candidate supported by the New Popular Front, the activist from La France insoumise Xavier Czapla. On the other hand, the presidential majority chose not to present a candidate in this constituency. The Macronists, however, did not indicate whether they supported the candidacy of Jérôme Cahuzac or that of LR Guillaume Lepers.
The big favorite of the legislative elections in the 3rd constituency of Lot-et-Garonne undoubtedly remains the outgoing MP Annick Cousin, who was unsurprisingly re-elected by the RN. In 2022, Annick Cousin won the vote in the second round with 56.97% of the votes, against Xavier Czapla, then invested by Nupes. During the European elections on June 9, the RN list received 38.4% of the votes. The left accounted for 25.65% and the presidential majority 11.61%.