Fierce elections in France. The first such situation in 25 years
Mayors and councilors in over 35,000 French communes are elected in local elections. In many places, local issues and the personalities of candidates will be key, often even more important than national or European issues. Voting takes place in two rounds, and all candidates with a result above 10% advance to the second round on March 22.
The fight for Paris promises to be particularly interesting. In the polls, the main candidates have almost equal chances of winning. If the socialists lost Paris after a quarter of a century in power, it would be a huge blow to their relevance ahead of the 2027 presidential elections.
The race for the position of Anne Hidalgo, the current mayor of the City of Lights, promises to be extremely interesting. Her former estranged protégé, Emmanuel Gregoire, is the Socialist candidate and poll leader, but is neck and neck with Rachida Dati, the conservative former culture minister. As many as three other candidates may qualify for the second round. If the socialists lost Paris after a quarter of a century in power, it would be a huge blow to their relevance ahead of the 2027 presidential elections.
However, France is not only Paris, although it is definitely the most populous and most recognizable city in the country.
The French capital is much more left-wing than the rest of the country, and Marine Le Pen's National Rally – the most popular party in France according to most polls – has never gained a strong foothold here, so it's not a good barometer of nationwide sentiment.
Meanwhile Marseillethe second city of France, yes. The incumbent center-left mayor there must face a serious challenge from the National Rally.
Other southern cities — such as Nice, Toulon and Nimes — are also targets of the far rightso it's worth following the results there to see if voters are ready to entrust Le Pen or Jordan Bardella with the keys to the Elysee Palace next year.
Le Havre, the political base of former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, should not be missing from the watch list. Philippe is in power here as mayor and is running for re-election before turning his attention to the presidency in 2027. He is considered one of the strongest candidates to stop the far-right, but polls show that the fight to keep Le Havre will be a key test for him.
On the left, the Greens risk losing several large cities they took over six years ago, such as Bordeaux and Lyon. This could further weaken them after a string of poor results. And the Socialists hope to hold on to Lille and Nantes, alongside Paris, to bounce back from their worst-ever result in the 2022 presidential elections.
How will the elections be held?
Prohibition of agitation and publication of election polls in local government elections taking place every six yearstakes effect on Saturday morning, so we won't hear from the candidates for most of the weekend. Media outlets are also prohibited from publishing polls or reporting on specific districts until voting ends on Sunday.
Polling stations opened at 8:00 a.m. across France. In smaller cities, they close at 6 p.m., and in large metropolises such as Paris, Marseille and Lyon, they close at 8 p.m.
Immediately after closing the premises, public opinion polling institutes will start publishing their estimates. However, these are not classic exit polls known from the United States, but analyzes of early voting results, which usually accurately reflect the actual distribution of votes in cities.
The French Ministry of Interior will publish the official results during the evening and at night until Monday morning, when we will probably know the winners and the candidates who advanced to the second round in individual cities.
What happens after the results are announced?
If one of the candidates wins more than 50% in the first round. votes, wins without overtime. If not, a second round will be held a week later, to which anyone who obtained at least 10 percent will qualify. votes.
Once the results are announced, there is a race against time to conclude strategic alliances or ad hoc agreements where more than two candidates advance to the second round. They have until Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. to do so, when candidates for the second round are finally submitted.
Third-place candidates may drop out of the race altogether, but are more likely to try to negotiate a merger of the ballots to secure seats on a future city council if their ally wins.
Wait… a list?
Candidates for mayor do not run alone, but put forward a whole list of candidates, hoping to win as many seats as possible on the city council.
Half of the Senate seats are filled every three years, with the next vote scheduled for September, October 19, 2025.Daniel Pier/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images
Seats on the city council are distributed proportionally between the lists depending on the vote, but the winning list has a guaranteed majority – except in Paris, Marseille and Lyon, where the winner receives only a quarter of the seats and the rest is divided proportionally.
Local representation also matters in national politics.
City councilors are a key part of the French electoral college, composed of approximately 162,000 people. representatives that are elected by the Senate, the less influential upper house of parliament. Currently, neither France Defiant nor National Rally has significant representation in the Senate due to their traditionally poor results in local elections.
However, half of the Senate seats are filled every three years, with the next vote taking place in September.
