There will be no Republican primary for the 2027 presidential election in France
Important: The Republicans elected Bruno Retailleau as their candidate for the next presidential election.
On the other side of the political spectrum, several candidates are calling for a primary to choose who will represent the left. But where does this practice come from and how did it establish itself in France?
The inspiration from American primaries
The primaries we know in France are heavily inspired by American primaries. Across the Atlantic, in the United States, they have been an institution for almost two centuries and usually take place a few months before the presidential election.
Just like in France, the goal is to allow citizens to express their preferences regarding the candidate they want to represent a party in the presidential election. The voting process is indirect: voters cast their votes for local delegates who pledge their support to a party’s candidate for the presidency. Organized by the federal states, some, like Texas, allow any voter to participate in the primaries (open primary), while in Florida, for example, only party members can take part in the voting (closed primary). Americans also have what they call “caucuses”, party-organized meetings that also serve to elect delegates.
“Winner take all”
Regarding the results, while some states opt for proportional representation to form the delegation of representatives, the principle of “winner take all” is generally in effect: only the delegates of the majority constitute the delegation, regardless of the scores of other candidates from the party.
The delegations from each state then gather at a convention to select the presidential candidate. It’s worth noting that these delegations are weighted based on the population of the state: the more inhabitants, the more significant the delegation. The party’s presidential candidate is the one who receives the most votes from all the national delegates from the 50 states.
Adapting the method in France and elsewhere
Less complex in France, primaries started to emerge in the 1990s, mainly on the left. The Socialist Party used a closed primary for the first time to nominate Lionel Jospin as the party’s candidate for the 1995 election.
The same happened in 2007 with Ségolène Royal. Based largely on communication, this primary was criticized on that front by Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Laurent Fabius, who came in 2nd and 3rd, respectively. The same year, the UMP designated Nicolas Sarkozy in a closed primary after the withdrawal of other candidates.
During the 2022 presidential election in France, there were five primaries, four on the left and only one on the right. Fabien Roussel for the PCF and Anne Hidalgo for the PS were internally designated. Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region, was acclaimed by LR members, while environmentalist Yannick Jadot was selected in an open primary. Another primary took place in 2022: the popular primary, where Christiane Taubira won without securing the necessary endorsements to run in the presidential election.
The primary model is also replicated in several countries worldwide. This system is particularly popular in the Americas. Some European neighbors like Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy also use primaries at various stages of party politics. Overall, primary systems are practiced in 29 countries around the world.
