Municipalities of Carcassonne: deputy Christophe Barthès officially invested by the National Rally

With a view to the next municipal elections looming in March 2026, in just fifteen months, we already knew that the deputy of the National Rally of the 1^re constituency of Aude, Christophe Barthès, was a candidate. Just like the opposition RN municipal councilor Edgard Montagné, with whom the violins have struggled to agree since the parliamentary dispute which led them to the industrial tribunal…

Two RN candidates for a single seat in Carcassonne was one too many, and in the end it was Christophe Barthès who just won before the national authorities who chose him. It was Monday December 16, 2024, on the occasion of the RN investiture commission which met in Paris. Reached by telephone, MP Christophe Barthès said he “happy with the choice of Marine Le Pen, Jordan Bardella and the other members of the commission… We never expect anything, but I know that there was a big investigation carried out to decide between us”.

To the attention of his challenger, Christophe Barthès indicates that“there will be other election fights where he will be able to apply, like the departmental ones… For my part, I am not here to put a spoke in his wheels…” For the municipal elections of March 2026 in Carcassonne, Christophe Barthès confides that he “has started “to put a team in place, with interesting people in well-defined sectors”. For now, Christophe Barthès specifies that he “remain above all deputy of the 1st constituency and of the French…”.

Edgar Montagné bows to this choice

On the side of Edgar Montagné, it is obviously disappointment, “but no big surprise. I fought until the end, because I felt I had my place despite the traps set in my own camp. Regarding the choice made, I was told that the wishes of the deputies were superior to those of local elected officials… Whatever happens, I will always bow behind the decision of the investiture commission…”

In the last municipal elections in Carcassonne in 2020, Edgar Montagné qualified at the end of the first round (16.52%) before losing in the context of a triangular where he finished in third place (15. 38%) behind the elected mayor, Gérard Larrat, and Tamara Rivel, the candidate of the union of the left.

For these municipal elections in March 2026, Christophe Barthès is the first candidate to be officially invested. Many uncertainties still weigh on the casting of this election where there is no shortage of contenders. We will normally know in September 2025 if the outgoing mayor, the various right, Gérard Larrat will be a candidate for a new mandate. His first deputy, Isabelle Chesa, for Les Républicains, declared her candidacy almost a year ago. Concerning the left, vagueness still reigns over the possible head of the list between the opposition municipal councilor Tamara Rivel or the socialist president of Carca Agglo, Régis Banquet, mayor of Alzonne, but other applicants could by these coming months to come out of the woods.