Regional elections in France: damper for Macron and Le Pen

In the French regional elections, the civil right did surprisingly well.

Abstention from voting reached a record high.

According to projections, only 33 percent of those eligible to vote cast their votes.

In the first round of elections on Sunday, the former presidential party Les Républicains (LR) became the strongest force with 29 percent of the nationwide vote.

Michaela Wiegel

Political correspondent based in Paris.

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Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National (RN) party fell behind the December 2015 results.

Only in the Mediterranean region of Paca was the top candidate Thierry Mariani, supported by Le Pen, razor-thin with about 34 percent, ahead of the LR candidate Renaud Muselier with 33 percent of the votes.

The national average was the RN with 18.5 percent, just ahead of the Socialist Party with 18 percent.

The green party EELV received twelve percent of the vote.

Emmanuel Macron's presidential party, La République en marche, failed to establish itself in the regions.

It received only about ten percent of the votes nationwide and is eliminated in several regions before the decisive round of ballots.