who is Christophe Gonzalez, the new RN mayor of Rognac?

Arriving at the top of the first round of the early municipal elections in Rognac (Bouches-du-Rhône), Christophe Gonzalez, candidate of the National Rally, won in the quadrangular on Sunday November 24 with 38% of the votes.

The National Rally had not presented a candidate for the municipal elections in Rognac since 2001. On Sunday, November 24, with Christophe Gonzalez, Jordan Bardella's party brought the town hall into its hands. The town joins the dozen towns already managed by the RN. The town joins the dozen towns already managed by the RN, the first to switch to the extreme right in Bouches-du-Rhône since 1997. “historic victory” a year and a half before the next municipal elections, welcomed by the departmental boss of the RN, deputy Franck Allisio. France 3 Provence-Alpes details what you need to know about the new mayor of Rognac.

Winner of a quadrangular

No Republican front in Rognac. Of the five candidates in the first round, four remained this Sunday. The RN-RPR candidate Christophe Gonzalez won with 38.24% of the votes, or around 150 votes ahead. Supported by Martine Vassal and Renaud Muselier, Willy Nicollet (DVD) obtained 34.65%. The outgoing UDI mayor, Sylvie Miceli-Houdais came third with 13.84% ahead of Maël Vala-Viaux, without a label, (13.09%).

In the first round on November 17, Christophe Gonzalez came in first with 32.3% of the votes, a hundred votes behind, the various right-wing Willy Nicollet (29%), and far ahead of the outgoing mayor Sylvie Miceli-Houdais, who arrived third (17.1%). Maël Vala-Viaux came fourth with 14.6%. No Republican front, the four lists remained for the second round.

“It is the success of our opening strategy and a fair victory,” said commented in Le Monde, Franck Allisio, departmental head of the RN and co-founder of the movement RPR, with Éric Le Dissès, various right-wing mayor of Marignane. Marine Le Pen sent her congratulations to the new mayor of Rognac on

Candidate new to politics

At 53, Christophe Gonzalez won his first electoral victory. He will don the sash of mayor of Rognac, 12,500 inhabitants, the only RN commune in the department. A novice in politics, the candidate labeled RN has only joined the party for a year. “We are all political novices, except for one person from the outgoing team, had he defended himself to the Figaro. C“It was I who put together the list and the program without the RN changing a comma.”

Residents discovered the face of this maintenance operator in nuclear power plants, from Rognac by birth, during the campaign on the posters, supervised by Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen. The president took to social media to call to “vote Gonzalez.”

Elected in the turmoil

In Rognac, the political crisis broke out in April 2024 with the revelations of Monde and the local investigation site March The two media revealed the opening of a preliminary investigation by the Aix-en-Provence public prosecutor's office concerning suspicions of expenses made with the municipal bank card by the mayor Sylvie Miceli-Houdais (UDI) and her predecessor Stéphane Le Rudulier ( LR).

On October 4, the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture issued an order to order the holding of new elections after the resignation of three elected representatives of the majority. Including Willy Nicollet, security assistant and who ran for mayor.

Carried by the navy blue wave

The candidate took advantage of the navy blue wave that began during the last elections. In the early legislative elections, the results of Rognac shifted the victory to the camp of the RN Romain Tonussi, defeater of the outgoing LREM deputy, Jean-Marc Zulesi, in the 8th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône, with 62.34% of the votes .

In the 2022 presidential election, 62.33% of Rognac voters voted for Marine Le Pen in the second round, well ahead of Emmanuel Macron.

In March 2026, Rognac, like all the municipalities in France, will put the town hall back into play. An outpost for the RN which hopes to win other town halls in the department.