The navy blue wave went up the Isle, to the gates of Périgueux. Unsurprisingly given the results of the European elections, it was the candidate of the National Rally, Nadine Lechon, who came first in the 1st constituency of Dordogne, with 38.24% of the votes (20,199 voters). This farmer from Bergeracois (she lives in Fleix) is a hit in the westernmost municipalities of the constituency: almost 50% of the votes in Montpon, 41% in Mussidan, 42% in Saint-Léon-sur-l’Isle.
Stéphane Klein/SO
Nadine Lechon came out clearly ahead in the first round.
“The work begins to consolidate our lead in the second round,” the sixty-year-old emphasizes. If there were to be a three-way race, a place at the Palais Bourbon would be within her reach, without even having to call for Reconquest votes, as Antoine Coutou only garnered 1.08% of the vote. “Yes, a three-way race would be to my advantage,” Nadine Lechon simply concedes.
Rate of participation
Cold shower, however, in Pascale Martin’s camp. The outgoing La France insoumise/Nupes MP, invested by the New Popular Front, only came in second place, collecting 29.42% of the votes. Sunday evening, after the results were announced, she indicated that she “wanted to take the time to sit down” with the activists.
Stéphane Klein/SO
Outgoing MP Pascale Martin, here with her deputy, comes in 2nd position.
On the left, those who see the glass as half full will note that the former president of Femmes solidaires came out on top quite clearly in Périgueux with 35% of the vote, and that she significantly increased her number of votes compared to the first round of the 2022 legislative elections, going from 9,845 votes to 15,540. A figure to be weighted by the much higher turnout rate in this election (a little less than 30% abstention).
It also allows the holding of a triangular, the candidate of the presidential majority, Clément Tonon, being qualified in the second round. This close friend of former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe obtained 24.30% of the votes, and above all 16.43% of those registered, exceeding the famous threshold of 12.5%.
The 5% of LR
While the results from the Périgueux offices were slow in arriving, all the department’s staff – as well as the main person concerned – were asking themselves the same question: should the Horizons candidate stand? Present at the prefecture, Clément Tonon spoke at length with the one who came in 4th place, the young Les Républicains candidate Bérenger Desport-Namur, “pleasantly surprised by his score”: 5.28%. Some centrists, also present, could not help but make a quick calculation: the votes of Clément Tonon added to those of the LR candidate would have allowed the first to pass in front of Pascale Martin.
Bérenger Desport-Namur, close to Laurent Mossion, defends himself: “What interested me was to leave the choice to the voters. In any case, if I had not presented myself, some of my voters would have voted for National Rally, and not Clément Tonon. »
At the end of the evening, Clément Tonon confirmed his intention to stay. “This decision is difficult but I fully assume it.”
