CALAIS, France — French voters turned out in droves on Sunday to prevent a surging anti-establishment, anti-immigration party from capturing regional office, a week after the once-fringe group shocked many by leading the nationwide vote in the first round of elections.
As the votes were counted, the initial results made clear that the National Front had been barred from office, and they reinforced the party’s narrative that a sizable minority of France’s citizens are being shut out from power. The group, which has campaigned to stop immigration, slash benefits to non-citizens and restrict France’s ties to the European Union, has already shifted France’s debate around immigration, pushing leaders to take a harder line.
National Front leader Marine Le Pen, considered by some to be Europe’s Donald Trump, tailored her message to disaffected voters who feel stuck in the mire of their nation’s listless economy. With a charismatic personality that contrasts with the introverted President François Hollande, Le Pen was powering into the top rung of French politics even before a year bookended by terrorist attacks in Paris.
“Election after election, the surging national current is relentless,” Le Pen said in a defiant concession speech. “Those who are in favor of globalization want France to disappear. Those who are against want France to remain for all of you.”
Voter turnout was significantly higher on Sunday than a week prior, at 59 percent compared with 50 percent, suggesting that many had come to the polls specifically to keep the National Front from office. Le Pen captured 43 percent of the vote in her northern French region after Hollande’s Socialists pulled their candidate and threw their support behind the center-right candidate. Across the nation, preliminary results showed the National Front winning about 30 percent of the vote.
Chastened political leaders from the dominant center-left and center-right parties vowed to be more responsive to the concerns of those who voted for the National Front.
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