Sacha Houlié can breathe. The outgoing deputy from the second constituency (Poitiers-sud) is the only one from the presidential majority to come out on top, Sunday June 30, 2024, at the end of the first round of the legislative elections in Vienne. The 35-year-old Poitevin obtained 33.21% of the votes, ahead of Valérie Soumaille (28.63%), supported by the New Popular Front (NFP). The opportunity for the rebellious activist to take her revenge after her lost duel in the second round in 2022. But this time, the two candidates will be engaged in a triangular, since Estelle Chevallier, representing the National Rally (RN), finished in third position with a score of 24.42%.
A triangular with a taste of revenge
A configuration made possible by a historic participation rate of 72.54%, or 58,179 voters. This is 15,248 more people than during the previous election (54.01%).
This significant turnout of voters benefited Sacha Houlié, who gained 3,439 more votes in two years, despite a lower percentage (36.83%). The president of the National Assembly’s law commission won in 21 municipalities in the constituency, including by a wide margin in Croutelle (44.72%) and Fontaine-le-Comte (43.13%). He also came out on top in Saint-Benoît (38.87%) and Mignaloux-Beauvoir (38.55%), as well as in three polling stations in Poitiers.
Strong breakthrough of the RN
For her part, Valérie Soumaille, who collected 1,860 additional votes compared to the first round in 2022, finished first in Béruges (28.82%) and, above all, in Poitiers (41.26%). In the city-prefecture, she is ahead of Sacha Houlié by 2,228 votes, confirming a tradition of the left-wing electorate.
But one of the lessons of the evening is the strong breakthrough of the RN. For her first campaign, Estelle Chevallier, 20 years old, obtained 8,223 more votes than Céline Philippe, candidate in 2022. She came in first place in 11 municipalities. Her most convincing results were in the canton of Vouillé with 48.84% in Frozes, 44.03% in Maillé and 43.13% in Ayron.
The votes of Bourdier and Augay will count
Launching into the race quite quickly but without obtaining the approval of the New Popular Front, Aurélien Bourdier achieved an interesting score. The socialist dissident in fact collected 10.08% of the votes, exceeding the threshold of 10% in sixteen municipalities in the constituency. Shortly after the announcement of the results, the Poitevin lawyer called to vote for his colleague, Sacha Houlié. The challenge will be to know if the entire electorate will not move towards Valérie Soumaille.
The outgoing MP also hopes to take advantage of Xavier Augay’s 2.92%. The diverse right-wing candidate, who claims to be “humanist” et “Gaullist”in any case called for a vote for him. There will, however, be no voting instructions from Agnès Chauvin, representative of Lutte Ouvrière, who obtained 0.51% of the votes.
In any case, the three-way race on Sunday, July 7, 2024 will be particularly scrutinized. And the campaign for the second round is only just beginning.
