The second round of the 2024 early legislative elections will be held on July 7. In Doubs, after several withdrawals, three duels and a three-way race will take place. Uncertainty remains for one constituency in the department.
Five constituencies, five different configurations. In Doubs, it is a certainty, in the second round of the early legislative elections 2024, on July 7, there will be three duels and at least one three-way race. But uncertainty remains in the 2nd constituency about the candidates who will run. Overview.
Besançon-Saint Vit: Modem/LFI/RN, a three-way race that looks set to be tight
In the 1st constituency of Doubs, which includes the polling stations in the west (from La Grette to Planoise) and the north-west (the districts west of Rue de Vesoul) of Besançon, and its entire urban area up to Saint-Vit, the three candidates who came out on top in the first round are neck and neck: 920 votes separate the outgoing MP Laurent Croizier (Modem, presidential majority) from Séverine Véziès (LFI, Nouveau Front Populaire), and 264 votes separate the left-wing candidate Thomas Lutz (RN).
“I have almost 1,000 votes ahead despite the RN wave, it’s a great performance and a mark of confidence for which I am aware of the responsibility” Laurent Croizier analyzes. “J’calls for amplifying this lead in the second round and my candidacy is the only one capable of uniting around the values of democracy and the values of the republic which are dear to me” added the Modem candidate – Ensemble!, estimating that “Mrs. Véziès is divisive.”
“We knew this constituency was going to be very tight” analyzed Séverine Véziès, on the microphone of France 3 Franche-Comté, “We also have candidates like Marielle Perrin [écologistes au centre] and Nicolas Freiss [LO] which could be reserves of votes for the New Popular Front.” The candidate denounced a “Very violent, dirty campaign, with insults and caricatures”. “I call on all those who want change in the country and who want to punish Mr. Croizier, who is the Macronist candidate, to support the only candidate who brings together progressives, humanists and environmentalists. and it’s mine that I’m wearing, with Franck Laidié, the mayor of Pugey” completed Séverine Véziès.
The turnout for the first round was 70.77%, 20 points higher than in 2022. 1,510 voters cast a blank or invalid vote, which are not counted in the percentages of the final results.
Besançon – Ornans: triangular or duel, what will the Renaissance candidate do?
It was the Doubs constituency where there was the most uncertainty in the first round, and it will probably be the same in the second: in the 2nd constituency of Doubs, which includes the polling stations in the center of Besançon, and all its neighborhoods east of Rue de Vesoul, and the department up to Ornans and Roulans, three candidates qualified for the second round. Dominique Voynet, the environmentalist candidate who leads the New Popular Front, came first by a small margin, with 34.16% of the vote. Eric Fuss (RN) is at 30.12%, and Benoît Vuillemin, the Renaissance candidate (presidential majority) at 26.79%.
Update, 02/07, 8am: Benoît Villemin announced late Monday evening that he was withdrawing from the election race. The 2nd constituency of Doubs will therefore see a duel between Dominique Voynet and Eric Fusis in the second round.
As soon as the final results were announced, Benoît Vuillemin, invited onto France 3 Franche-Comté, indicated that he had to think before making his decision. “We have until tomorrow evening at 6 p.m.” added the candidate Renaissance, mayor of Saône, this Monday July 1, “we exchange with our political partners, with the elected representatives of the territory”. “This strong republican bloc, we, the Republic on the move, embody it in France” he added.
It probably did not escape the candidate of the presidential majority that Daniel Roy, mayor of Malbrans and LR candidate, gathered 7.52% of the votes. If he benefited from the transfer of these votes to the second round, the scores could then be extremely close: the Renaissance and LR candidates combined 81 votes more than Dominique Voynet, out of 57,350 voters.
In the presidential camp, Emmanuel Macron and Gabriel Attal called on their candidates to withdraw when their continued participation could lead to the election of an RN candidate. On the side of the Les Républicains party, there was no voting instruction: “Macronism is dead” However, a press release from the LR management clarified.
Montbéliard – Baume-les-Dames: the candidate of the New Popular Front withdraws, a duel
In the 3rd constituency of Doubs, which covers the territories of Montbéliard, Baume-les-Dames and Maîche, the outgoing MP Nicolas Pacquot (Horizons) came in second with 30.22% of the vote. It was Matthieu Bloch, mayor of Colombier-Fontaine, a candidate for Les Républicains who followed Éric Ciotti and formed an alliance with the National Rally, who came in far ahead, with 44.35% of the vote. However, Virginie Dayet, PCF candidate for the New Popular Front, who also qualified for the second round with 21.56% of the votes cast, announced on Sunday evening on France 3 Franche-Comté that she was withdrawing and called for a vote for Nicolas Pacquot. “to block the RN”.
An engineer by training, Nicolas Pacquot was mayor of Étouvans since 2014 before winning his first term as deputy for Doubs in 2022. He is group president at Pays Montbéliard Agglomération.
The participation rate was 68.30% this Sunday, June 30.
Montbéliard is – Audincourt: the RN facing the Socialist Party
In the 4th constituency of Doubs, which includes the polling stations in the east of the Montbéliard conurbation, as far as Audincourt and Sochaux, the outgoing MP Géraldine Grangier (RN) came close to re-election in the first round, with 47.63% of the vote, for 41,762 votes cast.
She is followed by Magali Duvernois (PS, New Popular Front), who won 28.26% of the vote, then Philippe Gautier (Horizons) with 20.43% of the vote.
In accordance with the voting instructions given by its leader Edouard Philippe, the Horizons candidate withdrew in favor of Magali Duvernois. “I am deeply attached to the values of the authentically republican right, following in the footsteps of General de Gaulle.” Philippe Gautier said in a statement, “It is therefore out of republican conviction and on a personal level that my choice will fall on the social-democratic candidate. It is up to each of us to make a conscious decision.”
“Today the wind of hope blows” said Géraldine Grangier (RN) on France 3 Franche-Comté. “The French want something else.” This former social worker from the department ran for the first time in 2020 as Jacques Ricciardetti’s running mate. She has been a regional councilor since 2021, and a member of parliament for Doubs since 2022.
Magali Duvernois has been the mayor of Exincourt since 2020, and 9th vice-president of Pays Montbéliard Agglomération. She has also been a departmental councilor for Doubs since 2015. “I think we still have every chance” hopes Magali Duvernois, “We absolutely must unite Republicans and Democrats around my candidacy.” The New Popular Front candidate points out that in the polling stations that voted most for her, the abstention rate sometimes approached 50%, estimating that there was “still some room for maneuver.”
Pontarlier – Morteau: Annie Genevard faces the RN
The 5th constituency of Doubs is the largest and most rural in the department: from Morteau to Pontarlier, it also includes the polling stations of Amancey, Levier, Mouthe and Le Russey. The outgoing MP, Annie Genevard (LR), came first with 35.20% of the vote, ahead of Floriane Jeandenand (RN). They are the only two qualified for the second round. In the first round, only 800 votes separated them, but nearly 20,000 voters voted for a defeated candidate, including Matthieu Cassez (LFI, 16.79%) and Lucas Bouillot (DVC, presidential majority, 12.41%).
Annie Genevard has a long-standing local presence: deputy mayor from 1995, then mayor of Morteau from 2002 to 2017, she has been a member of parliament for Doubs since 2012. She is secretary general (number 2) of the Les Républicains party, where she strongly opposed Eric Ciotti’s alliance with the RN. The day after the first round, she stressed that she had gained 4,000 votes compared to the 2022 election: “I see this as recognition of the work and the closeness of trust established with the inhabitants of Haut-Doubs and the plateaux” wrote the outgoing MP. “I call on voters to amplify this score and to vote with full knowledge of the facts and conscience for a right of order and freedom, of experience and humanism.”
Floriane Jeandenand is a retired national police officer and family assistant.
