No winner in the first round of the LR congress. While Aurélien Pradié, Eric Ciotti and Bruno Retailleau were candidates for the succession of Christian Jacob, the first was eliminated from the race following the vote of LR members this weekend. Bruno Retailleau, a curator from Philippe de Villiers’ Movement for France, has a long list of supporters. Eric Ciotti, holding a very hard line on the sovereign and immigration, was the favorite.
The deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes Eric Ciotti collected 42.73% of the votes against 34.45% for the boss of the senators LR Bruno Retailleau. The Lot deputy Aurélien Pradié came third with 22.29% of the vote. Participation reached 72.67%, and the second round will take place next weekend.
“As of tonight the competition is reopened,” said Annie Genevard, the party’s interim president, welcoming this “remarkable” participation. In the second round “it will be more differences in personalities than line issues”, she assured. By way of comparison, turnout reached 47% in 2019 in the first round of the election, which saw Christian Jacob take the presidency with 63% of the vote. In the first round of the 2021 primary, 81% of members had voted in the first round. The candidates had to go to the headquarters in the evening to make a statement.