The Republicans held a presidential primary election, officially called the open primary of the right and centre (french: primaire ouverte de la droite et du centre), to select a candidate for the 2017 presidential election. It took place on 20 November 2016, with a runoff on 27 November since no candidate obtained at least 50% of the vote in the first round. It was the first time an

open primary Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

had been held for The Republicans or its predecessor parties. In the first round of The Republicans primary on 20 November,

François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

won an upset victory with 44% of the vote, while

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans (France), The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced 1995 strikes ...

—long held by most opinion polls as the favourite to win the nomination—came in a distant second with 29%. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was projected to come in second behind Juppé, was eliminated with just under 21% of the vote. In the runoff round, Fillon won by an even larger margin with nearly twice as many votes as Juppé (66.5% to 33.5%). Of the six departments and similar areas won by Sarkozy in the first round, all switched to Fillon in the runoff. Similarly, of the thirteen departments and similar areas that originally voted for Juppé, eight switched to Fillon in the second round. The constituency for French residents overseas was won by Juppé in the first round and Fillon in the second round.

Voting procedures

Unlike previous

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right List of political parties in France, political party in France that was one of the two major party, major contemporary political pa ...

primaries, this was the first primary to be open to the general public. The first round of voting took place on 20 November 2016. Voting booths were open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. A runoff was held on 27 November after no candidate obtained at least 50% of the vote in the first round. All registered voters were allowed to vote in the primary, as well as minors whose eighteenth birthday was before 23 April 2017. 10,228 voting booths were established with each person on the voting register attached to an office. To receive a ballot, a voter must pay 2 euros. People abroad who wanted to vote in The Republicans party were given electronic voting machines to do so.

Candidates

Candidates from The Republicans had to obtain the support of 20 members of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

, 2,500 party members and 250 elected representatives to participate. For candidates from other parties, the party themselves would decide the conditions for their submission into the primary. Seven candidates were accepted by the High Authority on September 6, 2016:

Validated candidates

Withdrawn candidates

Xavier Bertrand Xavier Bertrand (; born 21 March 1965) is a French politician who has been serving as president of the regional council of Hauts-de-France since the 2015 regional elections. Earlier in his career, Bertrand was Minister of Health from 2005 to ...

, President of the Regional Council of Hauts-de-France since 2016, former Mayor of Saint-Quentin from 2010-2016; former Minister of Labour, Employment and Health from 2010–2012; former Secretary-General of the UMP from 2008–2010 *

Christian Estrosi Christian Paul Gilbert Estrosi (born 1 July 1955) is a French sportsman and politician who has served as Mayor of Nice since 2017, previously holding the office from 2008 to 2016. A former professional motorcyclist, he served as a government m ...

, President of the Regional Council of

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pref ...

since 2015;

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

since 2008; former Deputy Minister of Industry from 2009–2010; former Deputy Minister of Overseas France from 2007–2008; former Deputy Minister of Planning of the Territory from 2005–2007

Opinion polls

First round

Second round

Polls conducted prior to the first round

Polls conducted after the first round

Hypothetical Polling

Juppé-Sarkozy Juppé-Le Maire Sarkozy-Le Maire Sarkozy-Fillon Le Maire-Fillon

Results

In the first round of the primary on November 20, Fillon won an upset victory with 44% of the vote, while Juppé - long held by most opinion polls as the favorite to win the nomination - came in a distant second with 29%. Sarkozy, who was projected to come in second behind Juppé, was eliminated with just under 21% of the vote. In his concession speech, Sarkozy endorsed Fillon and vowed to "embark on a life with more private passions and fewer public passions." This led to some media outlets declaring that "Sarkozy's political career adbeen effectively ended." In the runoff round, Fillon won by an even larger margin with nearly twice as many votes as Juppé (66.5% to 33.5%). Of the five departments won by Sarkozy in the first round, all but one switched to Fillon in the runoff. Similarly, of the thirteen departments that originally voted for Juppé, nine switched to Fillon in the second round. , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left" , Candidates ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left" , Parties ! colspan="2" , 1st round ! colspan="2" , 2nd round , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! width="60" , Votes ! width="30" , % ! width="60" , Votes ! width="30" , % , - style="font-weight:bold" , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:left;" , The Republicans , LR , , % , , % , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:left;" , The Republicans , LR , , % , , % , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" , Nicolas Sarkozy , style="text-align:left;" , The Republicans , LR , , % , colspan="2" rowspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet Nathalie Geneviève Marie Kosciusko-Morizet () (born 14 May 1973 in the 15th arrondissement of Paris), often referred to by her initials NKM, is an engineer, public figure and advocate, having previously had a political career. She was a Membe ...

, style="text-align:left;" , The Republicans , LR , , % , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Bruno Le Maire Bruno Le Maire (; born 15 April 1969) is a French politician and former diplomat who has served as Minister of the Economy and Finance since 2017 under President Emmanuel Macron. A former member of The Republicans (LR), which he left in 2017 to ...

, style="text-align:left;" , The Republicans , LR , , % , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" , Jean-Frédéric Poisson , style="text-align:left;" ,

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

, PCD , , % , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" , Jean-François Copé , style="text-align:left;" , The Republicans , LR , , % , - , colspan="8" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - style="font-weight:bold;" , colspan="4" style="text-align:left" , Total , , 100% , , 100% , - , colspan="8" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - , colspan="4" style="text-align:left" , Valid votes , , % , , % , - , colspan="4" style="text-align:left" , Spoilt and null votes , , % , , % , - style="font-weight:bold;" , colspan="4" style="text-align:left" , Total , , 100% , , 100% , - , colspan="8" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - , colspan="8" style="text-align:left" , Table of results ordered by number of votes received in first round. Official results by High Authority. Source
First round resultSecond round result

References

External links

Official website and results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Republicans (France) presidential primary, 2016, The Republicans November 2016 events in France Republicans, 2016 Presidential primary, 2016 2017 French presidential election