20–27 November 2016 2021 → 66.5% 33.5% | 2,919,874 1,471,898 Start date November 20, 2016 | |
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Winner François Fillon | ||
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 French 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 had been held for The Republicans or its predecessors.
Contents
In the first round of the Republicans primary on November 20, François Fillon won an upset victory with 44% of the vote, while Alain Juppé - long held by most opinion polls as the favorite to win the nomination - came in a distant second with 29%. 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 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.
Conditions
Unlike previous Union for a Popular Movement primaries, this was the first primary to be open to the general public. The first round of voting took place on 20 November 2016. A runoff was held on 27 November after no candidate obtained at least 50% of the vote in the first round.
Candidates
Candidates had to obtain the support of 20 MPs, 2,500 party members and 250 elected representatives to participate. Seven candidates were accepted by the High Authority:
Withdrawn candidates
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 [had] been 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.