The senatorial election on Sunday, September 27 reshuffled the cards in the Alpes-Maritimes. The UDR obtains two seats, the miscellaneous right list two as well, and The Republicans retain one elected official. Several political leaders reacted to the results, with satisfaction on the right and criticism on the left.
The Alpes-Maritimes is changing its configuration in the Senate. Five seats were up for grabs in the senatorial elections on Sunday, September 27. The UDR list came first with 40.22% of votes and two elected officials, Laurent Castillo and Gaëlle Frontoni.
The miscellaneous right list obtained 30.13% of the votes and two seats. Alexandra Borchio Fontimp is re-elected and Jean-Marc Delia returns to the Senate. Dominique Estrosi-Sassone retains her seat with The Republicans list, which received 22.76% of votes.
The result contrasts with that of 2020, when The Republicans had won all five seats in the department.
On the left, the unity list led by Francis Tujague, PCF mayor of Contes, obtained 84 votes, or 4.08% of the votes. Jean-Christophe Picard received 36 votes, Adrien Nouet 14 votes and Livio Orsi 8 votes. No seats were obtained by these lists.
The right celebrates after the election of five senators
The first reactions came from right and center-right elected officials. The president of the Alpes-Maritimes department, Charles Ange Ginésy congratulated all five newly elected senators in the department: “I extend my warmest congratulations to all the senators and female senators elected in the Alpes-Maritimes Laurent Castillo, Gaelle Frontoni, Alexandra Borchio Fontimp, Jean-Marc Delia and Dominique Estrosi Sassone. This result should strengthen the departmental majority which works in the spirit of patriotism for the Alpes-Maritimes. The Senate plays an essential role in the representation of our territorial communities. I wish all our senators full success in the exercise of their mandate and am pleased to continue our joint work in service of the Alpes-Maritimes.”
In Nice, the mayor Éric Ciotti also reacted to the election of Laurent Castillo and Gaëlle Frontoni. The two candidates on the list “The best is yet to come for the Alpes-Maritimes” occupied the first two places and therefore obtained the two seats won by the UDR.
Éric Ciotti describes the score as a “historic result” for his movement in the Alpes-Maritimes. The Nice mayor believes that the score obtained reflects the confidence granted by many local elected officials to this new representation of the department. The Mayor of Nice also sees in it “the embodiment of the deep desire for change expressed by the elected officials of our territory in favor of the great change that will break with Macronist decline in 2027.”
The Nice city councilor, former first deputy to the mayor Anthony Borré hails the elected officials of “republican right […] Congratulations to the senators of the republican right elected in our region, particularly Dominique Estrosi-Sassone and Renaud Muselier. Everywhere, the same lesson: when the right knows how to unite, the far-right can be defeated.”
Re-elected to the Senate, Dominique Estrosi-Sassone thanks the electors who participated in the vote. “This victory is that of work, commitment & proximity in service of our territory”, writes the senator, who announces wanting to continue defending the 163 communes of the Alpes-Maritimes.
Alexandra Borchio Fontimp also reacts to her re-election and the return of Jean-Marc Delia to the Senate. “What a pleasant surprise! The electors of the Alpes-Maritimes renewed their confidence in our list and elected Jean-Marc Délia by my side”, writes the senator. The new senator assures that the two elected officials will remain “senators for all elected officials, from the coast to the valleys.”
Christian Estrosi also hailed the re-election of Dominique Estrosi-Sassone, as well as the election of Renaud Muselier to the Senate.
The left challenges the functioning of the vote
On the left, the reaction takes on a different tone. Julien Picot, a PCF member, returns to the result obtained by the unity list of the left and ecology led by Francis Tujague.
Julien Picot considers that the candidacy was notably aimed at proposing an alternative in a department where the right has a significant place in the electoral landscape. The reaction also concerns the functioning of senatorial elections and the representation of communes. “This election nonetheless shows once again the profound limits of our senatorial system. Territorial suffrage is not equal. And this reality particularly penalizes medium-sized, rural communes and those in the high Maralpin country. In Nice, 69 municipal elected officials represent 414 electors. In Touët-de-l’Escarène, 11 elected officials represent only one elector. How can we accept that a commune and its elected officials weigh so little in the designation of those who are supposed to represent all the territories of the Republic?”
Julien Picot also believes that “tactical voting” weighed in the election. The reaction concludes with the stated desire by the PCF to continue its local presence: “Communist, socialist, ecological and social left will continue to work, build and resist in the Alpes-Maritimes.”
With two UDR elected officials, two miscellaneous right elected officials and one Republican senator, the new delegation of Alpes-Maritimes after this 2026 senatorial election now reflects the division of right-wing forces in the department. The left, for its part, has no elected officials among the five seats renewed on Sunday.
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