Socialist Gregoire becomes Paris mayor as the far right wins Nice in key municipal elections

Paris with the Eiffel Tower is pictured from the top of the Arc de Triomphe, Monday, Feb. 12, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

PARIS -- Socialist candidate Emmanuel Gregoire won the Paris race Sunday, succeeding fellow party member Anne Hidalgo as the French capital’s mayor, as results of the final round of municipal elections showed clear gains for the traditional left and right, and one major win for the far right in the French Riviera city of Nice.

French voters returned to the polls Sunday in about 1,500 communes. The vote is seen as a test of the balance of power on France’s local political map before the 2027 presidential race begins to take shape.

Definitive results were still pending Sunday evening in largest cities.

About 93% of 35,000 villages, towns and cities selected their mayors in the first round last week, with mostly one or two candidates, not associated with any party, competing.

Left-wing leadership for 25 years in Paris

Gregoire, who led a list uniting the traditional left, the Greens and the Communists, claimed victory after estimates based on partial results placed him well ahead of conservative rival Rachida Dati, who acknowledged defeat.

Gregoire said “tonight is the victory of a certain vision of Paris: a vibrant Paris, a progressive Paris,” before heading on a bicycle through the streets of Paris to the City Hall, where he was greeted by Hidalgo. The French capital has had a left-wing leadership for 25 years.

Gregoire said Parisians made a clear choice in favor of the left as Dati, the right-wing candidate, was backed by the far right. “This message is clear: Paris is not, and never will be, a far-right city,” he said. “Starting tomorrow, our country enters its next democratic challenge: the 2027 presidential election.”

Hidalgo, elected in 2014 and reelected in 2020, chose not to seek a third term after leading the city through the 2015 extremist attacks and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Mayors and municipal councilors are elected for six years.

Resounding far right victory in Nice

Nice, France’s fifth largest city on the French Riviera, becomes the most resounding win of the far right Sunday with the victory of Eric Ciotti, a former conservative who allied with the National Rally of Marine Le Pen.

However, Le Pen’s party lost in several cities it had identified as top priorities.

That includes the Mediterranean city of Marseille, France’s second largest city, where incumbent left-wing Mayor Benoit Payan won over National Rally candidate Franck Allisio.

Far-right politicians have lost to mainstream rivals in the southern cities of Nimes and the port of Toulon, a major naval base on the Mediterranean, which were two key targets for the National Rally.

Still, National Rally president Jordan Bardella praised victories in smaller towns and election of many municipal councilors across France, calling it “the greatest breakthrough in their history in this municipal election,” Bardella said.

“The successes of this evening are not an end, but a beginning,” he said.

Key races ahead of next year’s presidential election

Other large-city contests have also been watched closely.

In the northern port city of Le Havre, incumbent Mayor Edouard Philippe won a clear victory that strengthens his political standing as a potential presidential contender. Philippe, a center-right politician, was President Emmanuel Macron ‘s prime minister for three years.

Macron’s centrist movement, which lacks local grassroots support, achieved one major result in the southwestern city of Bordeaux, where its candidate Thomas Cazenave, a former minister, won over the Green party outgoing mayor. Macron’s party kept a low profile in many of the most closely watched races.

Some linked Sunday’s vote to a darker international backdrop and to the presidential race looming next year. “We have war in Ukraine, war in Gaza, war in the Middle East,” said Elena Van Langhenhoven, 81. “And France, will it see a major shift next year, in the presidential elections? It’s horrendous.”