Just some random things I’ll ramble about to close the 2008 French local election season.

Total Gains: Left +48 over the right. Total for all cities talked about in all regions. It doesn’t include changes within the same majority (such as PCF > Greenie, PCF > PS etc). The PS lost cities in only 2 regions, Bretagne (limited to one department, the 29) and Champagne-Ardenne.

Personal Votes: Looking at the vote totals in some cities that are normally close in national races, the incumbents usually carried their races with a much larger MoV than their party did in 2007. Doesn’t apply in general to one party, but to generally everybody.

Revenge: Two major revenges happened. Firstly, Juppe held Bordeaux after losing his constituency in 2007. In Chartres, the UMP incumbent defeated the Socialist who had taken his seat in a by-election earlier this year (even though he was supposed to get trounced).

Polls: They predicted the PS gains in Strasbourg, Toulouse, Reims and others; and were quite good in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Rennes, Lille, Bordeaux so forth. They didn’t have the PS winning Saint-Etienne or most importantly Amiens (which was really a huge surprise result, both rounds). They had Tourcoing staying PS, but didn’t see the first round victory there.

Corse (=)

Corse-du-Sud: Elected in 2001 by gaining the city from a dynasty of Bonapartist mayors (yes, they do exist), Simon Renucci (DVG-CSD) was easily re-elected. Of course, one might foolishly that the fact that Sarkozy broke 60% means that the UMP would win, but politics in Corsica are very, very strange and predictions by experts are usually disastrous. Anyways, Renucci took 66.4% in the runoff. The UMP held Porto-Vecchio narrowly, defeating the nationalists. The UMP took a bit over 48%, while the nationalists took over 44%.

Haute-Corse: Relating to my first point on foolish predictions, here is a good example. After his defeat in the 2007 legislative elections (mostly due to the work of the nationalists allying with the UMP), the Radical mayor of Bastia, Emile Zuccarelli was supposed to lose. He almost won by the first round, with 49.7% against 15.9% for a nationalist (2 nationalist candidates took over 22% combined). The UMP trailed in fourth (behind a DVG list) with 11.6%. Zuccarelli won with 56.9% against 25% for the nationalist. The UMP and DVG lost votes and fell under 10%.

DOM-TOM (PS/PCR +2)

Guadeloupe: Defeated in 2004, the UMP Senator Lucette Michaux-Chevry made a comeback in Basse-Terre, by winning the city with 50.1% in the runoff, defeating a DVD and Indie list. The left held Pointe-a-Pitre, with 39.9% for the winning DVG list, the other DVG list took 37.4% and the Greenies took 22.8%.

Guyane: One leftie replaced another in Cayenne, with a DVG candidate defeating the PSG (Socialist) incumbent by the first round, with 50.9%.

Martinique: After succeeding his mentor Aime Cesaire (RIP) in 2001, Serge Letchimy (PPM) was easily re-elected with 82.6%, the DVD and MIM lists below 10%.

Mayotte: No word on the municipals, because I don’t know anything about Mayotte, but instead a word on the cantonales. The UMP has gained Mayotte from an Indie.

Nouvelle-Caledonie: The UMP held Noumea.

Polynesie: The UMP incumbent Michel Buillard held his seat, defeating nationalists and a DVD list by the first round in Papeete.

Reunion: The left re-gained Saint-Denis from the UMP after having lost it in 2001. The PS took 53.8% in the runoff, defeating the UMP incumbent. Another gain for the left, from the UMP, by the PCR (Communist) deputy Hugette Bello. The PCR narrowly won, with 50.15% and 72% turnout. The UMP did hold Saint-Pierre and Le Tampon. The UMP also ‘held’ the general council, though weirdly. The incumbent UMP president was re-elected with the votes of the PS, PCR, MoDem, and a part of the UMP against an official UMP candidate. Total PS/PCR +2

Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon: The PS/Ensemble pour Construire mayor of Saint-Pierre was re-elected defeating the PRG deputy Annick Girardin. The UMP/Archipel Demain held the general council.

Picardie (PS/DVG +4)

Aisne: The left-wing gain didn’t come from Laon, which stayed on the right with 54.2% by the first round for the UMP, but instead from Soissons (2nd largest city), where the PS prevailed with 56.9%. The largest city, Saint-Quentin, a UMP stronghold, was easily held by the UMP, which took 60.8% in the first round. In a entirely left-wing race in Tergnier between the DVG (GDR member) deputy Jacques Desallangre and the PS, Desallangre won with 67.8% by the first round. The real race in Chateau-Thierry was also left-left, with a DVG candidate defeating the PS mayor by the first round. Total PS +1

Oise: Generally right-wing, the right held all but one of its positions in the department. In Compiegne, the UMP was re-elected with 65.8% by the first round. In Beauvais, Caroline Cayeux (UMP) held her seat with over 58% in the runoff. A DVD candidate won the race in Senlis to replace the retiring right-wing incumbent. He defeated the UMP by about 4%, and the left trailed far behind with about 15%. For the PS, they held Creil, and gained Noyon (where the incumbent, UMP, was retiring) in a close DVG-UMP-FN runoff. Total DVG +1

Somme: Unknown by about 50% of the city a month before, Gilles Demailly came from behind in Amiens and won a stunning upset over the NC incumbent, former Education Minister Gilles de Robien. Pollsters got it dead wrong, even in their last poll. Demailly came out on top of the (small) gang in the first round, with 41.4% against 38.9% for de Robien. The LCR provided him with a formidable vote reservoir, the LCR candidate had taken 6.4%. The MoDem took 5.8%. The LCR and LO likely went massively for Demailly and MoDem voters also preferred the Socialist to the former UDF mayor- Demailly took a surprisingly large 56.2% in the runoff. In addition to Amiens, the left gained Abbeville with almost 60% against the UMP, which had trouble taking the votes from two strong DVD lists in the first round. The UMP is left with Albert, which it held with about 66%. To add to the rout of the NC-UMP in the municipal election, the left gained the departmental presidency from the NC. Total PS +2

Nord-Pas-de-Calais (=)

Nord: A cruel blow to the Nord UMP came in Tourcoing, where the UMP had believed in its good chance to gain the Lille suburb and take the Lille area council with it. It didn’t, and by a lot. Firstly, the candidate didn’t exactly held. Christian Vanneste, an homophobic CNIP (UMP associate) deputy had won the UMP’s endorsement, but not without controversy. The PS won the city by the first round, a first in Tourcoing. The Socialists took 53.6% against a mere 30.7% for Vanneste. The MoDem came in third, surprisingly, with 8.5%, while the FN took 7.3%. In Lille, the PS incumbent Martine Aubry was comfortably re-elected, with over 66% in the runoff. She had previously rallied the Greenies (11.6%) and the centrists (7.8%). In the other Lille suburb, Roubaix, a solid leftist city, the PS mayor René Vandierendonck dominated the runoff, with over 55%. The UMP took a little 26.5%, with the Greenies not far behind on 18.1%. In Dunkerque, the Socialist Michel Delebarre won by the first round, with 57.5% largely defeating the UMP candidate. The FN, the MoDem, and the Trots also qualified for seats. The other major leftist city, Maubeuge, stayed with the PS by the first round. The UMP held its 3 major cities. In Valenciennes, where the UMP-NC list had the originality of having two cabinet ministers (Letard and Borloo), the UMP won by the first round, with 55.5%. The PS and PCF were in the same percentile ranges, far behind the right. Even larger margin in Cambrai, with 66.2% for the right by the first round. It was closer in Douai, but still to the advantage of the UMP, which took 53.5% in the runoff.

Pas-de-Calais: No cigar for the PS in Arras, where the MoDem held the city by the first round, with 51.24% against 33.9% for the PS. The Greenies also did well. The left held Lens, with 48.4% in a confusing 5-way PS-UMP-DVG-DVG-LCR runoff. The PS incumbent in Bethune lost the runoff narrowly to a DVG candidate. The PS trounced opposition in Boulogne-sur-Mer, once again, with over 71% for the PS by the first round there. In Saint-Omer, the right was defeated by the left, which took 57.8% in the runoff. However, the right avenged the loss by a more impressive gain, from the PCF, in Calais. Natacha Bouchart, UMP, defeated the PCF, in power for 37 years, with 54.02%. She likely took many FN votes from the first round. Talking of the FN, Le Pen’s carpetbagging daughter, Marine, running in Henin-Beaumont under the FN list, was trounced. The UMP was eliminated by the first round, its little 5% not allowing its qualification. The unpopular Socialist incumbent faced a runoff against not only Le Pen & company but a former Socialist, running as the “Republican Alliance”. The PS took 51.9% in the runoff, the FN far behind with 28.83% (up only 0.3% since the first round). The DVG-AR took 19.23%.

Ile-de-France (PS +2)

Essonne: Manuel Valls, the PS incumbent in Evry, was re-elected as expected. He swept back for another term with 70.3% by the first round, his UMP competitor far behind with 13.9%. No cigar, however, for the PS in Massy, where it had hoped to gain the city from the right. The right won with 57% in the runoff. The left held Viry-Chatillon (53.7%, R1) and Athis-Mons (54.1%, R1) while the right held Savigny-sur-Orge (50.1%, runoff). In Corbeil-Essonnes, where the race had attracted attention because of the UMP Senator and billionaire incumbent Serge Dassault (also involved in some judicial affairs) was at risk to lose his seat to the Communists, who had held the city until 2001. Dassault won narrowly, with 50.7% in the runoff against his PCF rival.

Hauts-de-Seine: Few changes took place in Sarkoland, apart from the usual right-wing civil wars. The PCF held Nanterre by the first round with 56.4%, the MoDem taking a distant second. The UMP ’star candidate’, Rachid Kaci (leader of the UMP La Droite Libre faction- a DL like thingee). A few minutes away, in Sarkozy’s Neuilly-sur-Seine, the succession of the retiring UMP incumbent attracted tons of coverage. Firstly, Sarkozy imposed his spokesman David Martinon as the UMP candidate, to the discontent of the local UMP, which ran its own candidate, Jean-Christophe Fromantin (DVD). Then a poll came out showing Fromantin defeating Martinon, and the shit started to hit the fan. Martinon’s ‘colleagues’, including Jean Sarkozy and Arnaud Teulle abandoned him and finally Martinon stepped down. The UMP replaced him with none other than the dissident, Fromantin, but then the official candidate, Arnaud Teulle, became a dissident. Fromantin led the first round with 47.9%, Teulle trailed with 32.1%. The PS candidate took a mere 7.9%. Fromantin won the runoff with 61.7%. In other news, the PS lost the seat(s) it had held since 1947. In Levallois-Perret, Patrick Balkany and his wife (number 2 on his list) were re-elected with 51.5% in the first round. In Boulogne-Billancourt, the UMP candidate came out victorious of the right-wing civil war with 44.3% in the runoff. Another civil war in Puteaux, this time a bit… uhm… different. The incumbent, Joelle Ceccaldi-Raynaud was re-elected with 53% in the runoff, defeating an Indie, a Socialist and a DVD list led by none other than her dad, Charles, former mayor, who took only 7.8% in the runoff. Daddy refused to talk to her daughter in the runup to the runoff. The Hauts-de-Seine UMP takes the award for most bizarre. In Colombes, gained by the RPF Nicole Goueta in 2001, and joined in 2008 by Rama Yade, the left defeated the duo, taking 53.6% in a mediatized runoff. The UMP won Chaville from the PS in a UMP-PS-MoDem runoff. In the cantonales elections, Jean Sarkozy was elected with ‘only’ 51% in Neuilly-Sud by the first round, the MoDem taking an honourable second.

Ville de Paris: Very polarized between left and right, Paris continued this polarization and the ’swing sectors’ didn’t swing much at all. Overall, Delanoe was easily re-elected, his lists doing well enough to win Paris-3, 11, and 19 by the first round. The swing sector of Paris-1 did not fall to the PS, the UMP was re-elected with 52.8%. Held by the Greens, the Green list led by the incumbent took second with 29.9% in the first round, behind the PS. The union of the PS with the Greenies meant that the Green incumbent took the top spot, and won with 68.3% in the runoff. In Paris-3, the PS took 55.9% by the first round, and 61% in the runoff in Paris-4. In Paris-5, the former RPR mayor Jean Tiberi, defeated in 2001, was threatened, and polls, like they had in 2001, showed him defeated by the PS Lynne Cohen-Solal (a sort of rival, she opposes him in every election he’s in). The MoDem’s qualification for the runoff changed the cards a bit, but polls still had him defeated even with the MoDem. The first exit polls showed him defeated 46-44. But they had undersampled dead voters. As the night progressed, the pollsters changed their polls first to 45-45 then to 45-44 for Tiberi. He won with 45% against 44.1% for the PS. The MoDem lost votes and fell to 10.9%. He must’ve taken 100% of the dead vote again perhaps? In Paris-6, the UMP incumbent took 56% in the runoff. Led by Rachida Dati, the UMP won Paris-7 easily, taking 57.7% in a three-way UMP-PS-MoDem runoff. The right was divided in Paris-8, with the outgoing mayor Francis Lebel leading a DVD-UMPd list against the official UMP candidate, Pierre Lellouche. Lebel won with 48.6% in the runoff. In the 9th, the PS took 63% in the runoff, 75% in the 10th, and 55.1% in the first round in Paris-11. Paris-12, a swing sector (the PS had narrowly gained the seat representing the 12th in 2007), the UMP candidate was the ex-MoDem Jean-Marie Cavada and his number 2 was Christine Lagarde, Minister of Finances. The PS did excellently in the runoff, taking 64.8% in the runoff. The 12th sector is now almost in line with its other left-wing neighbors. In Paris-13, the PS took 69.9% in the runoff and 57.4% in a three-way (PS-UMP-MoDem) Paris-14 runoff. Another swing sector that would’ve given the left a huge majority if they had won it, Paris-15, stayed with the UMP. The PS led the first round with 35.9% and the UMP trailed with 33.9%. A DVD list took 13.5%. Smart enough to understand that staying in meant defeat, the DVD merged with the UMP list and they won with 52.7%. In Paris-16, the most right-wing sector of the capital, the UMP narrowly won by the first round with 51.7% against 17.1% for the PS. Two DVD list took in total 16.5% and the MoDem had 8.6%. Paris-17, the base of the UMP candidate Francoise de Panafieu, stayed on the right narrowly with 52.8% for Panafieu in the runoff. Next door in the 18th, the PS sweeped the runoff with 72.5%. It won Paris-19 by the first round, with 52.1%. Paris-20, easily the most left-wing sector saw a battle between the outgoing DVG mayor and the PS candidate in the runoff. The UMP took only 7.24% here, behind the Greenies, DVD, and the MoDem. The PS won with 69.5% against 30.5% for the DVG incumbent. Status-quo prevailed overall, with the swing sectors staying with their masters. Jean Tiberi called his victory a “defeat for Delanoe”. Perhaps Cohen-Solal will have to wait until Tiberi retires and/or dies to win Paris-5 for the PS.

Seine-et-Marne: The leader of the parliamentary UMP, J-F Cope was re-elected in Meaux with 67.7% by the first round, an excellent score for the UMP. It was narrower in Melun, but the UMP won with 48.1%. No cookie for the UMP in the swing city of Chelles, where the PS won with 51.4% by the first round. The PCF held Champs-sur-Marne with 63.5% in the first round while the PS held Pontault-Combault (69.5%, R1) and Savigny-le-Temple (53.9%, runoff). The PS held the general council and the right failed to pick it up, after losing it in 2004.

Seine-Saint-Denis: Most of the changes in the 93 took place between the left-wing majorities, for the most part. In Montreuil, Dominique Voynet, the 2007 Green candidate for President picked up the city from the CAP-PCF mayor Jean-Pierre Brard with 54.2%. She perhaps picked up most of the UMP voters, eliminated in the first round and perhaps a few Trots (6.3% in the first round). The PCF held Bobigny by the first round, with 54.8% in the runoff. Same thing in Le Blanc-Mesnil, with the PCF winning 43.9% in a very close runoff with the UMP. In Saint-Denis, the Communists came out on top of the PCF-PS primary, with 51.12% in the first round, against 30.6% for the PS. Talking of primaries, the only gain PCF > PS at the municipal level was in Aubervilliers, where the PS won with 41.5% in the runoff against 38.5% for the incumbent PCF mayor. The Modem took 12.2% and the UMP won barely 7.8%. The NC held Drancy with 69.5% in the first round, increasing its score on 2001. Only notable PS gain from the right was in Aulnay-sous-Bois, where the PS defeated the deputy-mayor (and also unemployed, as he touches unemployment cash) with 50.4%. The PS ended up with 16 seats against 13 for the PCF in the general council, and the Socialists gained the department, in Communist hands since the creation of departmental government. Total PS +1 (does not include 1 Green gain and 1 PS gain from the PCF)

Val-de-Marne: No major changes here. The PS held Creteil by the first round with 54.2% and the reds held Vitry-sur-Seine with 100% (the PS, qualified for the runoff, merged with the reds). The reds also held Champigny-sur-Marne by the first round. The UMP gained Saint-Maur from a retiring DVD mayor in a UMP-DVD-PS runoff. The UMP also held Maisons-Alforts with over 63% by the first round. The PCF held the general council.
Val-d’Oise: A former Communist city, Argenteuil fell to the right in 2001. The PS won it back in 2008, with 50.6% in the runoff, defeating the incumbent. The UMP, however, held Goussainville with 50.08% in the runoff and a few votes difference. The UMP held Franconville (54.58%, R1) and Pontoise (52.2%, R1). The PS held neighboring Cergy with 51.8%. In the east of the department, the PS held Sarcelles with 68.9% in the first round. The PS gained the general council from the UMP. Total PS +1

Champagne-Ardennes (UMP +1)

Ardennes: No luck for the right in Charleville-Mézières, up there on the UMP targets list. The PS incumbent Claudine Ledoux took a large 55.8% in the runoff. Relatively easy re-election for the Socialists in Sedan (where the Franco-Prussian battle of Sedan took place) too, with the PS taking 51.12% in the runoff, in addition to a DVD list and a DVG list. Exact same lists in Revin for the runoff, and exact same victor- the PS, with 51%. The right held the southwestern city of Rethel, taking 57.5% against 25.8% for the left and 16.8% for another DVD list.

Aube: A clear first round victory in Troyes for the UMP Francois Baroin with 50.42% against the PS’s 23.22% and the MoDem’s 11.92%. The FN won 8.74% and the Greenies took 5.7%. A weirder situation in Romilly-sur-Seine with the retirement of the Left Radical mayor (who had governed with strange bedfellows- centrists and the right). For the left, the Communist Joë Triché (Romilly was a PCF city until the PRG gain in 1989) and the Left Radical Sarah Auzols fought it out, with Joë Triché taking 39.9% in the first round against 33.7% for the UMP. Auzols took 26.5%. The Communists, confident of a gain, lost the runoff against the UMP with 45.9% against 54.1% for the UMP. Total UMP +1

Marne: Defeated narrowly in 2001 by the then-UDF incumbent (retiring in 08), Adeline Hazan MEP got a second try. And a good one. The right left divided between two strong candidates- two former ministers- Renaud Dutreil (UMP) and Catherine Vautrin (UMPd-MoDem). Hazan picked up on the division, like in 2001 (she had led the first round then) but more convincingly. She took 42.1% against 25.2% for Vautrin. Dutreil took a mere 23% and merged with Vautrin’s list. However, Dutreil’s apparent reluctance of merging with Vautrin cost the right the city. Hazan took 56.1% in a relatively right-wing city. The right was successful in Châlons, capitalizing on the left’s division. The UMP took 52.8% in the runoff. The right also held Epernay (53.1%) but lost Vitry-le-Francois in a landslide. The PS took 51.23% by the first round against a divided right. Total PS +2

Haute-Marne: A small wooded department, the Haute-Marne is very conservative despite the existence of now-declining industrial and working-class areas. In Chaumont, held by a DVG mayor since 1989, Luc Chatel, a Secretary of State in the Fillon government (UMP) won the city by the first round, taking 56.2%. The right also gained Langres from another DVG by the first round with 52.32%. The UMP held Saint-Dizier easily with 66.34% by the first round. Total UMP/DVD +2

Bourgogne (PS/DVG +3)

Cote d’Or: Rebsamen held Dijon marvelously by the first round, with 56.2% against 36.44% for the UMP. Rebsamen had gained the city from the RPR in 2001, but much more narrowly. Ironically, one of the songs played at his victory had an artist none other than Carla Bruni-Sarkozy! The right held its stronghold of Beaune with over 66.7% in the first round. In the general council, a deadlock between left and right led to the election of Francois Sauvadet (NC) as President.

Nievre: A stronghold for the left in a region that leans to the right (overall), the Nievre is more importantly Mitterrandie. While the left’s domination of the department is still close to total, it’s hold has lessened a bit since the end of the Mitterrand era and dynasty in the 1990s. In fact, the PS won Nevers again, but lost a bit over 1% over 2001, taking 52.33%. The left, however, took Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, the most right-wing city, from the right with 49.7% in a three-way runoff. Total PS +1

Saone-et-Loire: Talk of a double disaster for Perben! Trounced in Lyon (see below), his party lost Chalon, the city he had left to run in Lyon. The PS took 54.5% by the first round, largely defeating the right’s candidate. The right did hold Macon, with 50.5% in the first round. No success for the right in Montceau-les-Mines (PS 53.31%, R1), Autun (DVG 47.12%, R1) and Le Creusot (DVG, 66.67%, R1). In the general council, gained by the PS in 2004, the President Christophe Sirugue preferred leaving the department’s presidency to become mayor of Chalon. Instead, the Socialist ‘leader’ in Saone-et-Loire, Arnaud Montebourg, ran in the canton of Montret in order to solidify his local implantations after a close call in the 2007 elections. [rant]Despite being strongly opposed to dual office-holding and currently in a crusade for a 6th Republic, Montebourg needed to turn on his word to save his reputation as the PS leader. And he did. Sadly. He won in Montret and became President of the General Council. I guess he’s not against triple offices?[/rant]. Total PS +1

Yonne: Two big deceptions for the right in its Yonne stronghold: firstly, the PS holding Auxerre with 52.4% by the first round, and secondly the loss of Sens to the left (51.77% for the DVG list). Total DVG +1

Next: I-d-F grande and petite couronne

Lorraine (PS +3)

Meurthe-et-Moselle: An industrial region, Meurthe-et-Moselle is split between the right and the left quite evenly. In Nancy, the Radical-UMP mayor Andre Rossinot, in office since 1983, kept his post with 50.74% in the runoff, the PS candidate took 40.56% and a DVG-PSd list took 8.71%. In the suburban area of Nancy, the left gained Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy with 51.87% in the runoff and held Villers-les-Nancy with 55.36%, despite right-wing hopes at a pickup.  Nadine Morano, now a Secretary of State in the Fillon government, was defeated in Toul, coming third behind the PS incumbent (43.7%) and a DVD list taking just 26.26%.  The right, however, gained Luneville from the left with 51.12%, despite a  strong DVD list with about 12% of the votes.  In the right-wing city of Pont-a-Mousson, the UMP Henry Lemoine kept his spot with over 55% in the runoff.  In Longwy, a city located along the Belgian and Luxembourg border, and also traditionally left-wing, the UMP scored an upset over a divided left, and took 43.73% and defeated the PS, which had 42.76%. Total UMP +1

Meuse: In Bar-le-Duc, the left scored an upset victory over the incumbent UMP mayor, taking 51.9% of the votes in a close runoff. In addition, the left held Commercy very easily, with over 74% in the first round. The right, however, did hold Verdun with nearly 53% in the runoff. The left also made important gains in the cantons, but the DVD president held his seat, with the support a large group of Independent councillors. Total PS +1

Moselle: In office since 1971, the elderly DVD mayor of Metz, Jean-Marie Rausch faced three strong opposition candidates. Marie-Jo Zimmermann (UMP), Nathalie Griesbeck (MoDem), and Dominique Gros (PS). Gros led the first round, with 34.04%, Rausch was in second with 24.16%. Zimmermann took 16.68% and Griesbeck took 14.69%. Griesbeck and Zimmermann merged their lists, leading to the UMP switching its support to Rausch. Gros won the runoff with 48.28%, Rausch far behind with 27.41% and Zimmermann with 24.31%. Gros is thus the first left-wing mayor of Metz since 1848! The left also gained Thionville, with 51.5%, and Forbach, with 60.05%. The UMP held Saint-Avold (54.3%) and Sarreguemines (56.41%, first round). Total PS +3

Vosges: Polarized between left and right, the situation remained the same. On the left, the PS held Saint-Die with 50.83% and Gerardmer with 68.74%. On the right, the UMP held Epinal with 55.7% by the first round and 45.6% in Remiremont (in a UMP-DVD-PCF runoff).

Franche-Comté (PS +2)

Doubs: After a big loss for the PS in Montbeliard in 2001, the Socialists have taken their revenge. They narrowly defeated the UMP incumbent 44.2-43.7. In Besancon, a solid city for the left (in Radical, SFIO, or PS hands since 1940 except 1950-1953), the PS incumbent, supported by the PCF but most importantly the Greenies (they had taken over 16% in 2001) won a first-round re-election with over 56%; the UMP far behind and the MoDem a bit below 10%. The right held on to Pontarlier, by the first round, the incumbent taking 60% to the left’s 25% and the Greenie’s 14%. Total PS +1

Jura: Despite a crisis in the local toy industry, the UMP incumbent in Lons-le-Saunier won a large re-election, much larger than expected. He took 55.5% to 35.4% for the PS, a DVD list taking 9.1%. In Saint-Claude, the right-wing incumbent lost his seat by a mere 5 votes (50.07-49.93). He better not find 6 UMP voters who abstained in the runoff! In Dole, where Dominique Voynet was trounced as the Green candidate in 2001, the UMP held onto its seat, with 46.92% to 40.71% for the PS. In the general council, which could have swung to the PS, it finally came down to a DVD to replace the UMP president. Total PS +1

Haute-Saone: The fronts remained stable, with no net gains in the 3 major cities. In Vesoul, the UMP incumbent took over 60% in the first round while the left held Lure (72.15% in first round) and Hericourt (75.6% in first round) and the presidency of the general council.

Belfort: After losing the seat in 2002 and failing to win it back in 2007, the MRC incumbent in Belfort (not Chevenement, he had stepped down a year prior) was at risk. In addition, the MRC-PS relations were not perfect. However, the climate was favourable, and the right was divided. Butzbach (MRC) won with 48.3%, the UMP had 38.1% and the DVD with 13.7%.

Alsace (PS +2)

Bas-Rhin: After losing the city in 2001, the Socialists had hopes to win Strasbourg back in 2008, and they did. With Roland Ries, the Socialists led both rounds by many points. In the first round, Ries took 43.9% against 33.9% for Fabienne Keller (UMP). The Greens came third, with 6.4% and the MoDem took only 5.7%. The FN collapsed to 2.84% and the far-right Alsatian regionalist party Alsace d’abord took 2.2%. Ries scored a big victory in the runoff, taking the lot of the Green and MoDem voters. He won with 58.33%, Keller far behind with barely 41.67%. In the Strasbourg suburbs, the left was able to hold its ground or gain. In Schiltigheim, the Socialists gained the city from the local centrist social-democratic party Mouvement démocratie alsacienne of Alfred Muller (in office since 1977, but retiring). In Illkirch-Graffenstaden, the PS incumbent Jacques Bigot almost broke 70% by the first round, surprising when the city gave Sarkozy over 60% of the vote in May. In the conservative strongholds outside of Strasbourg, the right held its ground well, as expected. In Haguenau, no surprise, a DVD emerged the winner of a four-way runoff to succeed a retiring incumbent. In Selestat, the UMP incumbent won with 54% (exactly!). Total PS +2

Haut-Rhin: Elected in 2001 as a Socialist, Jean-Marie Bockel (member of the Fillon government) won re-election narrowly as a Gauche Moderne incumbent, with the support of the UMP. The city of Mulhouse, used to centrist social democratic mayors - the Social Democratic Party, or PSD, was a member of the UDF - such as Emile Muller decided to keep Bockel, who fits the qualities of centrist social democracy. Leading the first round with 40.35%, Bockel was trailed by his former PS colleagues who took 32.34% and Patrick Binder of the FN, with 10.31%. A MPF candidate took 7.75%, most likely traditional UMP voters not fond of voting for a former Socialist. The runoff proved tighter, with Bockel taking 43.2% and the PS closely trailing with 42.6%. The FN took 14.3%. At first announced as a DVD gain from UMP on election night, Colmar kept its UMP mayor in a close UMP-DVD runoff, the UMP incumbent taking 50.35%. The UMP was re-elected in Saint-Louis with 45.1% in a four-way runoff (2 right, 2 left).

Rhone-Alpes (PS +8)

Ain: Bourg-en-Bresse loves change. In 1988, it elected a UDF mayor. In 1995, it elected a Socialist. In 2001, it elected a RPR mayor who died shortly before the 2008 election (he wasn’t running for re-election though). Naturally, the Socialists gained the city in 2008. Debat, the PS candidate won with 55.37% by the first round, the UMP far behind with 34.8%. The left also won Amberieu-en-Bugey, the winning Union of the Left list taking a bit over 42% in a 4-way runoff (2 left, 2 right). No cigar, however, for the left in Oyonnax or Bellegarde-sur-Valserine. The right succeeded a retiring rightist incumbent, with 46.06% in a 3-way runoff; and the UMP incumbent took 58.22% in Bellegarde, despite leaning left-wing in national elections. Another unexpected change happened in the cantonales, where the left won a majority of seats and picked up the department, despite the Ain being strong right-wing. Total PS +2

Ardeche: Generally left-wing, the left obtained mixed results. In Privas, the PS incumbent took over 60% in the first round (only 2 candidates there though). In Annonay, with the UMP incumbent, the left scored a huge pickup with over 68% in the first round. In a 4-way runoff in Aubenas, which opposed the united right (UMP incumbent) to three lefties- a DVG, a PS, and a Commie. The UMP won with 52%, the DVG taking 21%. In Guilherand, the UMP won 62% in the first round. The right gained Tournon-sur-Rhone from the PRG (retiring) taking 52.8% in the runoff.

Drome: In Valence, the chef-lieu of the Drome, where the UMP incumbent was retiring. Valence, a good city for the Greenies (they held the seat in the 1997-2002 legislature), the Greenies won 19.3% in the first round, providing an excellent reserve for the Socialist candidate who opposed the UMP candidate, first in the first round. Alain Maurice, PS, took 51.7% in the runoff, obviously dominating the Green vote. The right held Montelimar with 52%, and over 64% in Pierrelatte. A closer runoff for the PS in Romans, where the left won by less than 100 votes in a 4-way PS-UMP-MoDem-FN runoff. Total PS +1

Isere: Despite their hopes for a good season, the left failed to gain many of its targets. In Grenoble, Michel Destot (PS) faced an easy runoff against a young UMP candidate and a Greenie (deciding to stay in, seeing that Destot’s place wasn’t at risk). Destot won 48%, the UMP far behind with only 29.5% (Destot had rallied the MoDem, but also some Sarkozy-supporters). The Greens did exceptionally well, with 22.5%. In Voiron, the left gained the city as predicted, with over 58%. Success for the left in Bourgoin-Jallieu, holding with 56.6%. Threatened in Villefontaine, the right stood its ground by less than 20 votes, holding the city with 2,554 votes against 2,536 for the left. Very narrow in Vienne too, with the right holding its ground with 46.34% against 45.66% for the left. Total PS +1

Loire: A working-class department, the left reversed its recent loses by some big gains. Firstly, Saint-Etienne, with the defeat of the Radical-UMP mayor Michel Tholliere by the PS Maurice Vincent. Leading the first round, Tholliere (37.86%) needed to get the votes of the MoDem Gilles Artigues (20.23%) to beat Vincent (33.68%). Artigues stayed in, but many voters voted utile (useful) and went for Vincent, who won convincingly 46.11-41.63. Artigues was left with crumbs, 12.27%. The right also suffered in Roanne, suffering defeat to the left, who won with 52.08%. Disaster for the right also in Montbrison, where the left won with 51.4% by the first round, capitalizing on the right-wing division. Total PS +3

Rhone: Dominique Perben lost his gamble to win Lyon, a city which had voted for Sarkozy, but had elected a left-wing mayor, Gerard Collomb in 2001 (the right blamed a road accident, aka division, for the loss). Perben was able to rally the moderate UMP right with the local DLC/Milloniste right of Charles Millon (divided in 2001); but accusations of carpetbagging did no good. Collomb was also very popular and had rallied some centrists. The first polls in 2007 showed a 52-48 runoff in favour of Collomb, but Collomb ended up with over 50% in the first round and a truly historic first round re-election. He humiliated the right (already humiliated in 2001) and defeated Perben himself in Lyon-3 (by the first round) where the left won 52.82% to Perben’s 30.02%. Of 9 arrondissements, there were only 3 runoffs, in which the right nonetheless held its 2 incumbent sector mayors. In the suburb of Villeurbanne, the left easily won despite tough UMP opposition. The Communists held their stronghold of Venissieux. In the more right-wing north part of the Rhone, in Villefranche-sur-Saone, the UMP won despite being faced with a tough battle with a DVD candidate. In the general council, Michel Mercier (ex-MoDem) held his seat with the support from the UMP.

Savoie: Bernadette Laclais, the PS incumbent in Chambery, benefited from the general climate to hold her seat with a bit over 50% by the first round. Same scenario, but more surprising in Albertville, the host of the 1992 winter games, where the PS gained the city by a bit more than 100 votes. The UMP held Aix-les-Bains with over 62% in the first round, in addition to 9.6% going to a DVD list. In the general council, the former minister Herve Gaymard (UMP), who had resigned a few years ago because of a housing scandal, succeeded another right-wing incumbent. Total PS +1

Haute-Savoie: The UMP wanted to put its hand on Annecy, an historic centrist city, but failed horribly. Jean-Luc Rigaut, a Nouveau Centre incumbent, won re-election by the first round with 52.44%, the UMP far behind in second with 17.7%. The PS won only 15.9%. The left held Annemasse, with a bit over 52 and the UMP held Thonon-les-Bains. In Cluses, in a UMP-DVD-FN runoff, the UMP prevailed with 40.9%. The DVD took 38.7% and the FN won 20.5%.

PACA (PS +1)

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence: Still relatively close to the Socialists, the left held their position(s) well. In Digne-les-Bains, the incumbent DVG mayor was easily re-elected, with over 60%. In Manosque, a bit closer race for the UMP incumbent, who ended up winning 52-48. The Socialists held the general council, under the leadership of Jean-Louis Bianco, a top official in the 2007 Royal campaign.

Hautes-Alpes: In office since 2007 only, the PRG mayor of Gap, was supported for re-election by the UMP. He defeated a Socialist and DVD list in the runoff, taking 44.7% to the PS 43%. The NC mayor of Embrun was re-elected by the first round, barely, taking 50.5% against 30.6% to the PS, 14.4% to a DVD list and 4.5% to the MoDem. In the eastern city of Briancon, generally favourable to the right (despite the constituency having a PRG MP), the UMP incumbent Alain Bayrou was re-elected with 52%. After losing it in 2004 to the elderly DVG Auguste Treupheme, the UMP gained (outright) the department.

Alpes-Maritimes: In Nice, one of the country’s largest cities, and also a right-wing/far-right place, the battle involved two generations of UMP candidates. Firstly, the incumbent, the former FN deputy Jacques Peyrat, running again against the official UMP candidate; and the long-time Sarkozyste and official UMP candidate Christian Estrosi. Other candidates included Patrick Allemand (PS), Patrick Mottard (DVG), Lydia Schenardi (FN) and Herve Cael (MoDem-PRG-MEI). Estrosi passed the first round with 35.8% to 23.1% to Peyrat; Allemand took 22.3%. After obtaining nearly 12% in the 2001 locals, the FN collapsed to 4.2%, despite the department having the reputation of being strong for the FN. Estrosi was elected, with 41.33% to Allemand’s 33.2% (the left took 41.3% in 2001). Peyrat ended up with 25.5%. In the department’s other cities, all held by the right, the only real trouble was a plethora of DVD dissident lists here and there. In Cagnes-sur-Mer, the UMP won by the first round with 56%; the FN took 11.8% and won 2 seats. The Socialists, who came in second, and the MoDem list also won seats. Same scenario in Antibes, where the UMP took 59.3% by the first round. A DVD list came second with 15.9%, the PCF in third with 13.1% and the PS with a mere 11.7%. The presence of 4 right-wing lists in the first round and 3 in the runoff gave the race attention it would’ve never got otherwise. They even did a poll! The UMP incumbent topped the first round with 37%, followed by two DVD lists (one at 23.7%, a second at 20.8%). The PS took 10.43%. Brochand won the runoff with 40.7%, a DVD list followed with 37.1%. The PS took 11.7% and the other DVD list collapsed to 10.5%. The UMP won Grasse with 51% in the first round.

Bouches-du-Rhone: Originally considered a shoo-in for re-election, Jean-Claude Gaudin, the UMP mayor of Marseille saw his race tighten to the point that his seat was in jeopardy. The election came down to one sector, Marseille-3. The PS list leader, Jean-Noel Guerini was standing here, no doubt understanding the importance of the sector. However, the UMP’s Renaud Muselier won the sector, and the election, with 51.4%. The left, with Patrick Menucci gained Marseille-1 with 50.7%. No other sectors changed hands. The right held onto its strongholds in the south of the city, with Gaudin winning his 4th sector with 52.1% in the first round. The right won 58.7% in the 5th, and 54.4% in the 6th. In the left-wing sectors of the north, the Socialist held on well, as expected. It won Marseille-2 with 55% in the first round, and won 54.1% in Marseille-7 in a runoff with the UMP and the FN. With the Communist incumbent standing down in Marseille-8, the Socialists ran one of their own, and she won 52.3% by the first round. The seat representing that sector, in PCF hands since 1936, was lost to the PS in 2007. The FN, who had hoped to be kingmakers in Marseille failed to do so, being left in only one runoff already solid for the PS (Marseille-7). The race, of course, was close, the new council is now 51 UMP, 49 PS, 1 FN. In the grand Marseille, the parties held their ground. In La Ciotat, the UMP won with 53.8% by the first round, the PCF in a very far second. In Aubagne, the PCF incumbent, after receiving the support of the MoDem, fought off tough UMP opposition to win the runoff with 53.2%. In Marignane, held by Daniel Simonpieri (UMP, elected as MNR in 2001), the right-wing majority changed faces, with Simonpieri being defeated by a DVD candidate and a Socialist. The DVD list took over 51% in the runoff. In Bruno Megret’s city of Vitrolles, held by his equally-corrupt wife Catherine until 2002, and then won by the Socialists in a by-election in 2002 (Mrs. Megret’s re-election having been declared invalid), the left held the town. Guy Obino won 61.3% in the runoff. The FN was eliminated by the first round with 9.7%. The left held Martigues, with 57.6% in the first round largely trouncing the right, who had hoped to win the city. In Istres, a DVG list replaced the outgoing DVG mayor. In Arles, the Communist incumbent crushed the right by the first round, taking 57.7% against 18.5% for the UMP. In Salon-de-Provence, a top UMP target, the PS narrowly held the city with 53% in the runoff. In Aix-en-Provence, the UMP incumbent Maryse Joissains-Masini saw her seat threatened. She narrowly passed the first round with 33.8%, the PS taking nearly 30% and a MoDem list led by her former councillor took 20%. A poll saw her defeated in the runoff, but she passed. 44.28% against 42.94% for the PS. The MoDem’s supporter abandoned the MoDem, leaving it with 12.8%. Overall, a bad result for the right, which would’ve been disastrous if they had lost Marseille and/or Aix. But they failed to win in cities where Sarkozy had won, sometimes won big.

Var: Totally locked up for the right, the right held generally good. In Toulon, which had elected a FN (later MNR) mayor in 1995 and booted him out in 2001 by the first round in favour of Hubert Falco (DL, now UMP), the city renewed Falco easily. He won by the first round with 65.2% against 14.1% for the PS. The FN took 6.55% and one seat. A bit closer for the UMP in La Garde, where is nonetheless won 52.4-42.62 by the first round. An Indie took the rest. Division within the right in Hyeres, where the incumbent was standing down, resulted in the election of a DVD mayor with only 34.22% in the runoff, the UMP taking 30.6% and another DVD taking 19.41. Easy re-election for the UMP in Frejus, with 62.7% against 24.81% for the PS and 12.5% for the FN. Same thing in neighboring Saint-Raphael, with 62.9% for the UMP in the first round, the PS and MoDem far behind. After a very narrow gain by the UMP in 2001, the right held Draguignan with 44.13% in the runoff, despite the presence of a DVD dissident list. In Six-Fours-les-Plages, the UMP incumbent held his seat with 53.7% in the first round, the MoDem beating the PS for third place. The only really disputed city in the whole department of the Var, La-Seyne-sur-Mer (in PCF hands until recently) was gained by the PS narrowly: 50.65% against 49.13% for the incumbent. Total PS +1

Vaucluse: After defeating PS star-candidate Elisabeth Guigou in a landslide in 2001, the race in 2008 was much, much closer in Avignon for Marie-Josee Roig. She won with 51.9% overall. In Orange, where the FN mayor Jacques Bompard had won by the first round in 2001, but later switched to the MPF (to possibly play the role of FN-lite), the UMP thought they could defeat him. So they ran a candidate. Who got eaten alive. Only 12.05% against 60.97% for Bompard (superior to his 2001 score in fact). It doesn’t seem like voters in Orange want to return to democracy yet. In Carpentras, the third city of the Vaucluse, division proved fatal to the right, who ran 2 lists in the runoff. The PS got 38.97%, the UMP incumbent took 35.91%. A killer list, DVD, took 17.46% and defeated the right. The FN took 7.65%. In Apt, another gain for the left, taking a whooping 60.8% against the incumbent in the runoff. The right took one city, Pertuis, to cancel out one of the other gains. 47.44% for the UMP, the left taking 35.25%. A DVD list took the rest. Another victory for the right in Bollene, for a gain from the left by the MPF Marie-Claude Bompard, the wife of Jacques. She took 47.95%, taking many votes from the electorate of the official UMP candidate.

Languedoc-Roussillon (PS +3)

Aude: Despite being one of France’s most solid Socialist departments, the right nevertheless controls Carcassone, the department’s major city. And they held it despite the Socialist hopes to score an upset. It was close, with 50.22% of the runoff vote favouring the UMP incumbent. However, in the 37-year old right-wing city of Narbonne, the Socialists scored a large upset win, taking 57% to the DVD incumbent’s 43%. In Limoux, the task of holding the city was quite easy for the PS, who took 100%. In Castelnaudary, the Socialists crushed right-wing hopes at a pickup, and won 67% in the first round. In the general council, the Socialists barely extended their already enormous majority. Former presidential candidate Gerard Schivardi (PT) kept his seat in the general council and his seat as Mayor of Mailhac. Total PS +1

Gard: Formerly a Communist region, with the PCF bases in the Cevennes and Petite Camargue, the Gard is slowly shifting to the right. In Nimes, the UMP mayor Jean-Paul Fournier handily defeated the former PCF mayor Alain Clary 54-46. Same scenario in Ales, where Max Roustan (UMP) won by the first round, taking 54% to 23.8% to the PCF, 16.7% to the PS and 5.7% to the FN (the FN used to be relatively big in the Gard, up till 2007 etc). The right held Villeneuve-les-Avignons (58%, R1), Beaucaire (DVD gain from UMP, 41%, R2), Saint-Gilles (42.3%, R2) and Vauvert (50.1%, runoff). The only gain for the left came in Bagnols-sur-Ceze, where the PS took 53.6% in a runoff against a divided right. Total PS +1

Herault: In Montpellier, where some had hoped for a right-wing upset, the left was easily re-elected, so easily that the Greenies declined to support the PS in the runoff because the seat was not in jeopardy. In fact, Helene Mandroux took 51.9% (despite strong Greenies, 18.7%) to 29.5% to the UMP deputy Jacques Domergue. In the suburb of Mauguio, a city where Sarkozy had taken 60% of the vote, the UMP was eliminated by the first round to finish the runoff with a DVG (incumbent)-PS runoff. The right held Luniel, the Communist Sete (despite some saying it was fragile for them), Agde, and Beziers.

Lozere: Despite being administratively part of the Languedoc-Roussillon, Lozere has a political behaviour closer to that of the Cantal or other southern and Catholic regions of the Massif Central. Nevertheless, the left has a small foothold in Mende and the 1st constituency (usually not enough to win). It capitalized on the retirement of the MoDem incumbent there to gain the city for the first time since World War II. Alain Bertrand (PS) took 51.5% in the runoff, defeating the UMP candidate. The right held Marvejols with 44.8% in a runoff against the PS and the MoDem, and held Saint-Chely-d’Apcher in a DVD (inc)-PS-UMP runoff. Total PS +1

Pyrenees-Orientales: Despite the indications by polls that the election in Perpignan would not be close and that the UMP incumbent Jean-Paul Alduy would have no difficulties for re-election, he did have difficulties… and they continue today. In the first round, Alduy won 38.9% to 20.2% to the PS (plus another 15.1% to a DVG list). The FN took 12.3% and qualified for the runoff (they had not done so in 2001 due to a MNR winning 3.7% to the FN’s 9.3%). With the DVG candidate resigning in order to support the Socialist candidate, the race got closer. Alduy ended up winning with 45.48% to 44.11% to the PS, the FN losing votes to be left with 10.4%. Then the stories started. They caught a returning officer with ballots stuffed in his socks. The Socialists called the vote rigged and a symbolic manifestation with socks took place outside the town hall. Alduy was elected mayor by the council (not without some arguments), but the affair is with the courts now. The Socialists want to hold a re-vote. Apart from that, the UMP mayor in Canet-en-Roussillon was easily re-elected, but the UMP attempts to win back the general council failed.

Next: PACA