The National Rally (RN) came out on top in the four constituencies of the two departments. But from Digne-les-Bains to Gap, via Briançon and Manosque, the balance of power will clearly not be the same for the second round on July 7.
The Southern Alps did not escape the RN wave. In the Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, the National Rally came out on top in the first round of legislative elections this Sunday, June 30.
In the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, the RN won 42% of the vote, with a 10,000-vote lead over the New Popular Front. A dynamic favorable to the extreme right illustrated by the outgoing deputy Christian Girard.
The RN candidate scored a very high score, with 44.30% of the vote, far ahead of Félix Blanc for the New Popular Front at 27.26%. Benoît Gauvan for Ensemble also qualified with his 19.35%. But the mayor of Oraison was very clear on Sunday evening, June 30, at the prefecture by withdrawing from the race to block Christian Girard.
One unknown remains: what will the 2,956 voters of Sandra Raponi (LR) and the 468 votes of Patricia Campart (Reconquête) do? With this single postponement, Christian Girard is assured of being re-elected. No large municipality escaped him on Sunday. From Digne-les-Bains to Oraison, via Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban and les Mées, as well as in Valensole and Castellane, Christian Girard is winning almost everywhere.
Possible triangular in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
This is less true on the other side, in the second constituency. However, Sophie Vaginay-Ricourt achieved a very comfortable score and can calmly start her week. The LR-RN candidate gathered nearly 41% of the votes in the first round with more than 3,500 votes ahead of the incumbent Léo Walter (32.99%).
Manosque, Sisteron, Villeneuve, Volx, Pierrevert, Sainte-Tulle or Barcelonnette, all the largest municipalities in this constituency voted for Sophie Vaginay-Ricourt by a majority. All except Forcalquier, the largest city to have chosen Léo Walter with more than 47% of the votes.
And what about Dominique Blanc? The candidate Ensemble and her 10,162 votes qualify for the second round. At present, this three-way race clearly favors Sophie Vaginay. But Léo Walter solemnly asked the candidate supported by the presidential majority to withdraw.
This should be announced as early as Monday morning, unless Dominique Blanc and his team, close to Christophe Castaner, still do not accept the defeat inflicted by Léo Walter on the former mayor of Forcalquier in 2022. Blocking Sophie Vaginay means calling for a vote for the man who was signing the end of the career of the political tenor of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The choice is obviously very difficult.
In 2015, the former mayor of Forcalquier did not hesitate when he withdrew from the second round of the regional elections to help Marion Maréchal Le Pen beat Christian Estrosi. Always omnipresent in decisions without ever appearing officially, will he hesitate now? It seems impossible.
Pascale Boyer retires
In the Hautes-Alpes, the RN and its allies collected nearly 29,000 votes (36.13%), while the New Popular Front received just over 25,000 (31.55%). Ensemble came in third with 19,650 votes (24.58%).
In the details of the constituencies, Jérôme Sainte-Marie won in the first constituency, that of Gap and Buëch with 38.24% of the votes against Marie-José Allemand, 30.47%.
The outgoing MP, Pascale Boyer, qualifies for the second round with 22.58%. But she quickly decided to withdraw to block the RN. If an 8-point gap can be made up, Marie-José Allemand and her supporters know that politics is not mathematical and that the transfer of votes is not automatic.
It should be noted that the largest cities in the constituency, Gap, Laragne-Montéglin, La Bâtie-Neuve, Tallard, La Saulce, La Roche-des-Arnauds, Serres voted overwhelmingly for Jérôme Sainte-Marie. Veynes preferred Marie-José Allemand by 30 votes.
Duel RN-NFP
In the second constituency, it is more difficult for the RN candidate. Louis Albrand nevertheless comes out on top with more than 13,155 votes (33.88%), ahead of Valérie Rossi and her 12,661 votes (32.70%).
Sébastien Fine (Ensemble) is not so far behind, with 26.70% of the vote. On Sunday evening, he assured that he would still have time to think about whether to maintain his candidacy, before finally withdrawing during the night. His reserve of votes gives Valérie Rossi a clear advantage as she enters the final week of the campaign.
If Louis Albrand scores very well in small towns like Crots, Châteauroux-les-Alpes, Savines-le-Lac or Ancelle, it is in the larger towns that he struggles. Briançon, Embrun, Guillestre, l’Argentière-la-Bessée preferred to place Valérie Rossi in the lead.
Unlike Chorges and Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur which are switching to RN. Many villages in Champsaur have chosen Albrand. Will he win next Sunday? The second round looks tricky for the Saint-Crépin candidate.
