La France Insoumise's Marseille mayoral candidate Sébastien Delogu, in Marseille, southern France, on March 15, 2026. ELODIE CLEMENT / AFP
A hard-left candidate for mayor of France's second city of Marseille announced Tuesday, March 17, he was dropping out of the second-round election runoff in a setback to the anti-immigration party of Marine Le Pen.
On Tuesday, Sébastien Delogu, who represents the hard-left La France Insoumise party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, announced he was dropping out of the race because of the "risk" posed by the far right. Delogu, who came fourth in Sunday's first round, did not explicitly call on voters to support incumbent left-wing mayor Benoît Payan, but asked "all those who voted for us not to abandon the anti-fascist struggle and our political programme."
Mayoral races in major cities like Marseille are closely watched for signs of whether political parties can maintain their strategy to contain the far right.
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