French 2017 Presidental Election (NewWorld)

A presidential election on April 24th and a run-off on May 8th to elect the President of the French Republic. The incumbent president, Francois Hollande of the Socialist Party, was eligible to run for a second (and final) term but chose not to, primarily due to low polling numbers and lack of party support.
The first round resulted in none of the candidates getting the required 50% to win, so a second round was held with the top two candidate, Alain Juppe of the Republicans and Marine La Pen of the National Front, moving to a second round, which Juppe narrowly won.
 	 	
Nominee 	Alain Juppe 	Marine La Pen
Party 	The Republicans	National Front
Popular Vote	18,572,187 	15,947,221
Percentage 	53.8% 	46.2%
== Party Campaigns ==
======
=== Socialist Party ===
Despite initial speculation that he may run again, incumbent president Francois Hollande decided not to run in his party's primary. Former Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg, who many viewed as being on the more moderate left side of the party, defeated former Lille Mayor Martine Aubry.
Candidate	Montebourg	Aubry
Percent 	54% 	46%
Despite being a new face for the party, Montebourg could not shake the image of being the establishment candidate from a very unpopular government.
=== The Republicans ===
The nomination for the centre-right Republican Party was much more heavily contested. From the beginning, former President Nicholas Sarkozy was considered the front runner. The other prominent candidates for the primary included former Prime Minster Alain Juppe, Member of Parliament Xavier Bertrand, former mayor of Bordeaux Francois Fillon, Member of the European Parliament Bruno Le Maire, and Member of Parliament Nathalie Morizet. Of particular press interest during the campaign was Morizet's campaign, which focused on an ecologically-based moderate conservatism unique within the party. Public interest in her especially flared after she withdrew before the second round and endorsed Alain Juppe over heavily-favored front-runner Nicholas Sarkozy. Sarkozy was heavily defeated in the next round when almost all of the other candidate's supporters rallied to Juppe.
Candidate 	1st Round	2nd Round
Nicholas Sarkozy	29.9% 	35.8%
Alain Juppe 	25.4% 	64.2%
Nathalie Morizet	24.5% 	
Bruno Le Maire 	11.2% 	
Francois Fillon 	5.6% 	
Xavier Bertrand 	4.3% 	
Nicholas Sarkozy, incensed at the betrayal of his party colleagues, withdrew his support from Juppe and formed his own party, Popular Forum. However, he could not organize a campaign quick enough to contest the presidential election, although he would go on to run his party in the next legislative elections later that year.
Juppe was able to cast himself as the moderate candidate in the election, especially with the rise of the Greens and National Front. He primarily focused his criticisms on the government's economic record.
=== National Front ===
Marion-Maréchal Le Pen, was acclaimed as the candidate for the party.
La Pen focused her campaign on populist economic issues rather then immigration as expected, and many pundits believed this was her attempt to moderate the once radical image of her party.
=== Green Party ===
Cecile Duflot, former minister, was acclaimed as the Green Party's candidate. She focused her campaign on, without surprise, environmental issues, but was also able to maneuver herself as the primary progressive critic of the government on other issues such as housing and welfare.
=== Other Candidates ===
Other candidates included 2012 candidates Francois Bayrou, who ran for the centrist Democratic Movement, Jean-Luc Melenchon, who ran for the left-wing Left Front, Jean-Christophe Lagarde who ran for the centre-right Union of Democrats and Independents, and Nathalie Arthaud, who ran for the new far-left Worker's-Anticapitalist Alliance.
Candidate 	Party 	1st Round Vote	1st Round Percent	2nd Round Vote	2nd Round Percent
Alain Juppé 	The Republicans 	12,452,328 	33.33% 	18,572,157 	53.80%
Marion-Maréchal 
Le Pen 	National Rally 	9,524,190 	25.55% 	15,947,221 	46.19%
Arnaud Montebourg 	Socialist Party 	4,784,132 	12.80% 	 	
Cécile Duflot 	The Greens 	4,596,890 	12.31% 	 	
Jean-Christophe Largarde	Union des Démocrates et Indépendants	2,401,672 	6.42% 	 	
Jean-Luc Mélenchon 	La France Insoumise 	1,583,492 	4.23% 	 	
François Bayrou 	Democratic Movement 	1,154,873 	3.09% 	 	
Nathalie Arthaud 	Worker's Struggle 	854,185 	2.29% 	 	
Total 	 	 	 	 	
37,351,762 	100% 	34,519,408 	100% 	 	
Category:Politics