Sunday, April 10, 2022

French First Round Results

French electoral results are available, see the article at Politico.eu. Incumbent Macron got the most votes, followed by Le Pen who will share the run off later this month with him. The leftist vote went to Melenchon who came in a very strong third. 

If the runoff votes break the normal French way, Macron will be reelected. If a lot of voters-for-someone-else find Macron uninteresting and stay home, Le Pen could get a surprise win, especially if all the nationalists and populists turn out to vote for her.

It looks like the Ukraine war influenced voters in Macron's favor. Prior to that attack, rightists in Europe spoke approvingly of Putin's stance rejecting LGBTQ rights and defending traditional social values. 

European rightists don't approve of Putin attacking Ukraine, but some guilt-by-association has undoubtedly tarred them.  Zemmour in particular had this problem.