Far-right mayoral candidate Eric Ciotti won the first round of voting in Nice, France¡¯s fifth-largest city, as Marine Le Pen and her nationalist allies seek to boost support ahead of next year¡¯s presidential election.
Ciotti, who broke from the traditional conservative bloc to back Le Pen two years ago, won 43.4% of the vote, according to interior ministry figures. A run-off on March 22 will also include Christian Estrosi of the center-right Horizons, who got 30.9%, and the Green¡¯s Juliette Chesnel-Le Roux, who won 11.9%.
Results from around 35,000 municipal votes taking place across France will indicate which parties have momentum heading into the 2027 presidential vote, when Emmanuel Macron is barred from running again. The National Rally, which runs just one large municipality, Perpignan, is seeking to show that far-right appeal is growing in big cities such as Marseille, Nice and Toulon, as well as more rural areas.
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