French Locals 2008: Midi-Pyrenees
Mid-Pyrenees (PS +9)
Ariège: In the Radical-Socialist stronghold of Ariège, which was already quite left-wing before the elections, the situation changed very little. In Pamiers (northern city in the 2nd constituency, the most right-wing one), held by a UDF-MoDem incumbent, the left was unsuccessful in their attempts to gain; possibly because of vote splitting (a Greenie qualified for the runoff and maintained themselves). Trigano, the incumbent, narrowly squeaked by with a bit over 50%. In Foix, the department’s prefecture, the Socialist incumbent faced a tough battle, not against the right of course, but against the left! He was nonetheless re-elected, with 44.5% to 37.1% for a DVG list and 9.2% to a PCF list. The right got last and 9.1%. In the general council, only one seat changed hands- from PS to DVG. The Socialists hold 18 of 22 seats (+1 DVG), the right has a total of 3 (2 UMP, 1 DVD).
Aveyron: The only department that is not of Radical tradition and still strongly Catholic, the Aveyron is also the most right-wing department in the region. However, the left has been making important progress as of late, and continued this in the locals. In Millau, Jacques Godfrain was defeated, with the left taking 54% in the runoff to his mere 38.1% (a DVD list took an additional 7.9%) . In Rodez, the department’s main city, it was the same scenario. With the UMP incumbent Marc Censi stepping down and the right divided between two lists, the scene was perfect for the Socialist Christian Teyssedre, who won by the first round with 52.5%. In third, the UMP took 15.5%. The city has never had a Socialist mayor since the 1960s. Only in Villefrance-de-Rouergue, the right slipped back for another term by the first round with 51.5%. Two left-wing lists and a MoDem list took the rest. The general council stayed with the UMP, but with the long-time President (since 1976) Jean Puech being replaced. Total PS +2
Haute-Garonne: Voters in Toulouse voted to end an inconsistency. Despite voting strongly for the left in national elections (57.6% for Royal in the runoff), the right had held the city since 1971. Even in the left-wing landslide of 1977, the Socialist hadn’t won the city back. Well, they did in 2008, albeit narrowly. In the first round, the UMP incumbent Jean-Luc Moudenc pulled ahead with 42% to the Socialist Pierre Cohen’s 39%. The MoDem took a mere 5.9%, but enough to merge (with the UMP) and a Alternatifs (far-left, but not entirely Trot) list led by the former Socialist Francois Simon took 5.42% and the real Trot-list took 5.1%. However, Simon mobilized abstentionists and took 50.42% in the runoff, narrowly defeating Moudenc. The scenario was the same in Saint-Gaudens, the left gained the city with 51.8%; and the same in Muret, where the PS gained the city with 52.07%. The right narrowly held Castanet-Tolosan, a Toulouse suburb. Total PS +3
Gers: Another department generally strong for the left, the PS did relatively well. As expected, it held Auch with over 60% in the runoff and got lucky in Condom, where they defeated the UMP incumbent by 14 votes. Total PS +1
Lot: Another Radical stronghold, the left did extremely well in the locals. In Cahors, the 35-year old PS candidate defeated the UMP incumbent with a whooping 67.1%. In Gourdon, considered favourable for the right, the left took 59.5% against the UMP incumbent. With this, the re-election of the left in Figeac was a formality, and indeed it was. The PS incumbent won re-election by the first round with over 66% of the votes. Total PS +2
Hautes-Pyrenees: Despite being very left-wing (and another Radical territory), the right in the Hautes-Pyrenees won the local elections. Threatened in Tarbes by the PS deputy and former minister Jean Glavany, the UMP held the city with 54%. In Lourdes, the former city of the centrist Philippe Douste-Blazy, the UMP held it narrowly, with 51%. On the cantonales scene, the Radicals lost the presidency to the PS, who now holds more cantons than the PRG. From 6 presidencies in 2001, the PRG now has a mere 2.
Tarn: A split department, with a Socialist north and a more conservative south, a general status-quo prevailed, with one exception. In Albi, although located in the north, the right won a new term, with 54% in the runoff. However, in Graulhet, the left defeated the right and won with 50.07% in a three-way runoff against 2 right-wing lists. In the two southern conservative cities of Castres and Mazamet, the right won, with 50.32% (+17.5% to a DVD) in Castres and 62.4% in Mazamet. Total PS +1
Tarn-et-Garonne: In the last truly Radical department of the region, with the Radical leadership assumed by the PRG leader and Senator Jean-Michel Baylet, the left was not able to win back its big 2001 loss- Montauban. In Montauban, Brigitte Bareges, elected in 2001 in a PS-RPR-FN runoff on a campaign based on security, she narrowly won a second term with 50.3%. In Moissac, the PS held the city with 54%. However, the left’s division in Castelsarrasin helped re-elect the MoDem Bernard Dagen, with 50.5%. Jean-Michel Baylet was re-elected, for his part, as the department’s head of government.
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