In the northern French town of Hardecourt-aux-Bois, Marine Le Pen received 78 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election. Source: James Hill for the New York Times
HARDECOURT-AUX-BOIS, FRANCE – Marina Le Pen She spent the last two days of her campaign in the economically troubled regions of northern France, which together with the expanse of the Mediterranean Sea form her strongholds to the south.
Le Pen urged her key supporters to vote on Sunday and held events in the Somme province, home to towns and villages where her attacks on her rival Emmanuel Macron as an “arrogant” president were fervently fueled by “contempt” for the people are embossed.
“For me, Emmanuel Macron is the president who made the rich richer,” said Gaetin Francois, 40, construction tractor driver and member of the city council, in front of the town hall in Hardecourt-aux-Bois. “Marine Le Pen is the only one defending the workers.”
In Hardecourt-aux-Bois, a town of 85 people on the Somme, just three people voted for Macron in the first ballot earlier this month. Ms. Le Pen received 78 percent of the vote, her highest score nationally.
The city, like the rest of the area, has drifted to the right over the past decade.
Maurice Kleiman, 82, a retired truck driver, said he voted Socialist for most of his life. In 2017, he voted for Le Pen in the first ballot and Macron in the second because he was concerned about the extreme right.
This time he had no such fears. He said Macron’s policies had plunged France into a “trench”, citing a record national debt that had accumulated during his presidency. He was furious at Macron’s proposal to raise the retirement age from 62 to 65 as part of his plans to reform the pension system. For those who have done hard physical labor their entire lives, retiring at age 65 is like retiring on crutches.
“It’s the only option,” Ms. Le Pen said.
Hamm, around 24 kilometers away, a town with around 5,000 inhabitants, has also moved to the right in recent years. In the 2012 presidential election, the Hammers, like the rest of the nation, voted for Socialist Party candidate François Hollande over centre-right Nicolas Sarkozy.
But in 2017, Hamm chose Le Pen over Macron. Ms Le Pen won 56 percent of the vote in Hamm, compared to just 34 percent nationally.
Le Pen Macron should easily beat again in Hamm on Sunday. In the first ballot two weeks ago, he received 41 percent of the votes, Macron only 24 percent.
Far from Ms Le Pen’s focus on the working class, her sharp discourse on crime and immigration has drawn voters like Hubert Beckert, 68, a retired optometrist.
“I’m tired of using taxpayers’ money to put terrorists in prison,” he said, adding that he wanted the death penalty returned. Marine Le Pen is the only one cracking down on crime.