“Disgusted.” Cholet Mayor Gilles Bourdouleix announced to Ouest-France that he was withdrawing his candidacy, even though he had qualified for the second round of the early legislative elections in the fifth constituency of Maine-et-Loire.
Find on our dedicated pages the results of the first round of legislative elections in Paris, Lyon, Marseille as well as the results of the second round from 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 7.
Coming in second place with 30.54%, the candidate of the LR-RN alliance had to face in the second round the candidate of the presidential majority Denis Masseglia, in the lead with 33.7%. The candidate of the New Popular Front France Moreau completed the three-way race with 21.33% of the votes.
“Disgusted by a nauseating election campaign that insults democracy and our fellow citizens, I have decided to return home. There will be no further comments other than the appeals concerning the illegalities committed by a candidate,” wrote Gilles Bourdouleix, in a message revealed by the daily. The mayor of Cholet, MP from 2002 to 2017, was notably defeated in his own town.
A name mentioned in the debate
Gilles Bourdouleix was cited by Gabriel Attal during the last debate between the Prime Minister, the president of the RN Jordan Bardella and the leader of the PS Olivier Faure for his discriminatory remarks about travellers and Hitler.
In 2014, the mayor of Cholet was convicted of “apology for crimes against humanity” for saying that “Hitler may not have killed enough” during an altercation with travellers. A conviction overturned in 2015 by the Court of Cassation.
Gilles Bourdouleix announced the day after the debate that he wanted to file a complaint against Gabriel Attal for “defamatory remarks”.
