With 7 candidates, including three leading in 8 possible cantons in Nice, the National Front was the not-so-surprising guest in this first round of the Nice cantonal elections. A guest that would create unprecedented second rounds in certain cantons like the 12th with Benoît Kandel (UMP) facing Michel Cotta, or in the 7th where Thierry Venem (FN) will go against Bernard Baudin (UMP), leaving the outgoing general councilor, Dominique Boy Mottard (PRG), out of the race.
The wife of Patrick Mottard (PRG), who will face another FN candidate in the 5th canton in the person of Alexandre Mascagni, is not the only one to have suffered from the rise of the Front since Frédérique Grégoire Concas will also not be able to defend her chances again against the outgoing general councilor and 1st deputy mayor of Nice, Benoît Kandel.
The disappointment was slightly less for Bernard Asso and Daniel Benchimol, both members of Nice’s municipal majority, who will indeed be present at the second round but will leave the leader’s seat to the two frontist candidates, Jean-Philippe Lefèvre and William Paris. Only the 14th canton escapes this rule, as Jacques Peyrat was eliminated in the first round, it will be an interesting face-off to follow between the outgoing socialist general councilor, Paul Cuturello, and Dominique Estrosi-Sassone, who defied the odds by finishing at the top in this first round.
Chasing Abstention
But, once again, the voters were the big absentees in this election with a record abstention rate approaching 60%. Therefore, the electoral machine needs to be put back into operation for the various candidates who will have only a short week to bring citizens back to the polls. A call to arms, therefore, for all teams, who from this morning were already out in the neighborhoods to best communicate about their favorite.
The question remains? How to give citizens valid reasons in a few days to convince them to exercise their right? Each person has their answers and each has their method to achieve this unlikely challenge. Grassroots campaigning, public meetings, presence in the neighborhoods, or even direct and indirect communication—everyone has their remedies, hoping that the illness is not as serious as this first round suggests.
Polls and Predictions Thwarted
If we believe the latest polls and predictions, nothing foreshadowed such duels in the Nice cantons, and it is clear, once again, that it is the ballot box that has the final say, and it is only once the dance is over that one pays the musicians. Big drums and trumpets can be put away for some who probably already imagined themselves seated in the conductor’s chair.
It is difficult, therefore, to venture again into a game of predicting Nice cantons that may not yet be through with their surprises.
So the appointment is set for the next Sunday, March 27, to see if the voters make the necessary Sunday effort to give credibility to an election that sorely lacked it during its first round!
