Marine Le Pen’s ascendant far-right party views next year’s contest as its strongest chance yet to take power, with centrist President Emmanuel Macron constitutionally barred from running again.
The elections in 35,000 villages, towns and cities will take place over two rounds held on consecutive Sundays.
Although municipal elections in France tend to revolve around local issues and follow a different logic from national contests, analysts say they will help gauge the political climate in the EU’s second-biggest economy and only nuclear power.
While nearly 90 percent of the French communes are small rural constituencies where local elections are traditionally depoliticised, the races could nonetheless reveal key trends and dynamics, said political scientist Nonna Mayer.
“In large towns, national issues will matter more, and they can give some hints on the electoral dynamic of the main parties,” Mayer told AFP.
Who will win cities like Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Nice will matter, she added.
Polling stations opened at 0700 GMT Sunday across mainland France for the first round of the elections. Voting began earlier in the French overseas territories of New Caledonia, Reunion and Mayotte.
Historically, France’s major cities have been governed either by centre-left parties or the right-wing Republicans. By contrast, Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, the hard-left party of firebrand Jean‑Luc Melenchon and Macron’s centrists have struggled to establish a strong local footprint.
The National Rally (RN), which currently governs only one major city of more than 100,000 inhabitants, Perpignan, hopes to strengthen its local presence by capturing urban centres such as Toulon and Marseille, France’s second‑largest city.
A strong performance would mark an important milestone in the RN’s longstanding effort to gain broader acceptance in the political mainstream. The party, which had long faced accusations of antisemitism, sees the elections as an opportunity to show it can govern at the local level.
In the lead-up to the vote, Le Pen acknowledged that capturing big cities such as Lyon, Bordeaux and Toulouse remained difficult.
“It’s fine,” she said. “We’re very persistent.”
In one of the highest-profile contests, former prime minister Edouard Philippe is hoping to keep his seat as mayor of the northern port city of Le Havre, a role he has held since 2014.
A loss by 55-year-old Phillipe, seen by some as the strongest candidate to take on Le Pen or her 30-year-old lieutenant Jordan Bardella, in the 2027 polls, will deplete his political capital.
All eyes are also on the battle for Paris, where Rachida Dati, a combative former culture minister and one-time protege of now convicted ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, hopes to wrest control of the city from the left, which has run the French capital for the last quarter-century.
Dati goes neck-to-neck with left-wing candidate Emmanuel Gregoire, 48, and the loss of Paris would be a blow to the Socialist Party ahead of the presidential campaign.
Many mayoral candidates have distanced themselves from political parties, reflecting voters’ exasperation with the elites and the paralysis that has gripped the country ever since Macron called snap elections in 2024.
Following a record low turnout during the last local elections, held under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, analysts will closely scrutinise the 2026 races for possible signs of voter fatigue.
“Turnout will tell us about the health of French democracy,” said Mayer, the political scientist, pointing to “political distrust and disaffection.”
If no candidate wins an absolute majority in the first round, the vote will proceed to a second round on March 22.
The week between the two rounds is expected to see political parties negotiating deals with rivals and joining forces against strong opponents.
“The pattern of tactical voting will offer a preview for next year,” said Mujtaba Rahman, Europe director at risk analysis firm Eurasia Group.
Results from the first round are expected late Sunday, but the outcome in major cities looks uncertain.
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