France Elections: Hollande Beats Sarkozy To Become French President

In an almost universally expected result, Socialist candidate François Hollande has unseated French president Nicolas Sarkozy, winning the French presidential runoff Sunday, France 24 reports. Hollande won 51.9 percent to Sarkozy's 48.1 percent.

Reuters has also confirmed Mr. Hollande's victory.

Mr. Sarkozy trailed Mr. Hollande in the days leading up to the runoff, according to the New York Times, and his popularity waned in the face of high unemployment, austerity and a possible recession throughout Europe.

The two candidates advanced to a runoff election after first-round elections held on April 22; according to France 24, Hollande won 28.63 percent of votes, while Sarkozy won 27.18 percent of votes. The surprise result of the first-round came for third-place Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Front, who won a surprising 17.90 percent of votes, the highest the right-wing party had ever secured in a presidential race.

Read the full report from the Associated Press below.

By ANGELA CHARLTON
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) -- Socialist Francois Hollande defeated conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday to become France's next president, heralding a change in how Europe tackles its debt crisis and how France flexes its military and diplomatic muscle around the world.

Sarkozy conceded defeat minutes after the polls closed, saying he had called Hollande to wish him "good luck" as the country's new leader.

Exuberant crowds filled the Place de la Bastille, the iconic plaza of the French Revolution, to celebrate Hollande's victory. He will be France's first leftist chief of state since Francois Mitterrand was president from 1981 to 1995.

Sarkozy thanked his supporters and said he did his best to win a second term, despite widespread anger at his handling of the economy.

"I take responsibility ... for the defeat," he said.

Hollande's former partner and mother of his four children, Segolene Royal, said she has a "feeling of profound joy to see millions and millions of French renew the tie to the left."

"The French can be confident," she said on France-2 television. "We will need everyone to help the country recover." Royal faced off Sarkozy in the 2007 election.

Partial official results, with about half of the nationwide votes counted, showed Hollande with 50.8 percent compared to 49.2 percent for Sarkozy. The CSA, TNS-Sofres and Ipsos polling agencies predicted that Hollande will win with 51.8 percent to 53 percent, compared with 47 percent to 48.2 percent for Sarkozy. They made projections based on the vote count at select voting stations around the country.

Hollande wants to renegotiate a hard-won European treaty on budget cuts that Germany's Angela Merkel and Sarkozy had championed. He wants more government stimulus, and more government spending in general despite concerns from markets that France needs to urgently trim its huge debts.

The election outcome could also have an impact on how long French troops stay in Afghanistan and how France exercises its military and diplomatic muscle around the world.

Loading Slideshow

• Supporters of Socialist Party candidate for the presidential election Francois Hollande react after the first results of the second round of French presidential elections outside Socialist Party campaign headquarters in Paris, France, Sunday, May 6, 2012. First results show that Hollande had won the election. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

• A supporter of outgoing French President Nicolas Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) cries as the preliminary results of the second round of the presidential elections were announced at UMP headquarters in Paris Sunday May 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

• Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) supporters wave the French flag as they wait for preliminary results of the second round of the presidential elections at UMP headquarters in Paris Sunday May 6, 2012. France voted in a presidential run-off election Sunday expected to see Socialist challenger Francois Hollande defeat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy by capitalizing on public anger over spending cuts and a Europe-wide push for austerity. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

• Socialist Party candidate for the presidential election Francois Hollande poses with residents after visiting a polling station near Tulle, central France, Sunday, May 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

• A disabled person is seen inside a pollong booth prior to casting a vote for the second round of the presidential election in Paris Sunday, May 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

• Socialist Party candidate for the presidential election Francois Hollande waves as he tours through villages near Tulle, central France, after voting in the second round of the presidential elections, Sunday, May 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

• French President and UMP candidate Nicolas Sarkozy waves to wellwishers as he and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, center right, leave after casting their votes for the second round of the presidential elections in Paris, Sunday, May 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)

• French President and UMP candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, center, and his wife Carlas Bruni-Sarkozy, right, leave after casting their votes for the second round of the presidential elections in Paris, Sunday, May 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)

• French President and UMP candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, center left, casts his vote for the second round of the presidential elections as his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, left, looks on in Paris, Sunday, May 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)

• Supporters of Socialist Party candidate for the presidential election Francois Hollande react after the first results of the second round of French presidential elections outside Socialist Party campaign headquarters in Paris, France, Sunday, May 6, 2012. First results show that Hollande had won the election. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

• Supporters of Socialist Party candidate for the presidential election Francois Hollande react after the first results of the second round of French presidential elections outside Socialist Party campaign headquarters in Paris, France, Sunday, May 6, 2012. First results show that Hollande had won the election. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Comments

[jesternhell]

10:22 AM on 06/18/2012

raise taxes on big banks and oil companies (who pass it on to who?), levy a 75 percent tax on incomes higher than $1.26 million a year (that just paid for half of the 60,000 teachers they plan to hire, now what about the rest of the debt?)

[InternetDev]

09:00 PM on 06/06/2012

It's good to see Sarkozy leave presidence, but it isn't much good to see Hollande arrives!

[Francois G]

06:14 AM on 05/09/2012

Enfin une bonne nouvelle... Sarkozy est fini...

(Bonjour Joyce)

[Joyce70]

06:55 PM on 05/09/2012

Hi Honey! ;-) (Je suis tombée dessus par hasard! Sinon, je ne l'aurais jamais lu)
It's the best news I've heard in a long time!
WE DID IT!!
But I thought you supported Bayrou, the Speedy candidate!

[Pierre Deruelle]

08:10 PM on 05/09/2012

Speedy Gonzalez is a famous heroe cartoon.... do you have a nickname for Mr Hollande? Just for fun indeed my Dear.. Anyway i hope that he choose Mr Valls for prime minister, I like this guy.
pierre m de ruelle

[Francois G]

04:10 AM on 05/10/2012

Good news indeed...
You were right, I favoured Bayrou, like most of my family, so first round was quite deceptive...
My second round vote was more rejection than favourism but the desired effect is the same...

[Sandy Hammer]

12:32 AM on 05/09/2012

Good for the French voters. Austerity programs only penalize the lower and middle classes. When these citizens bear the major burden of supporting a nation while the wealthy keep expanding their sense of entitlement, the people usually demand change. It happens over and over around the globe.

[bobbyar410]

11:45 PM on 05/09/2012

Amazing ............I love to see people tell it like it is.

Sarkozy became merkel's little puppet.

French people they don't forget that no long ago {germanic arians} leveled France.

germany tried 2 world wars to capture Europe and they failed.

Now they try to buy Europe but people WOKE UP.

VIVA LA FRANCE { from a Greek American guy}

[bamaliberal]

07:57 PM on 05/08/2012

Austerity does not work in a recession. After the Republican't party gets through decimating social programs so they can give more breaks to the billionaires, middle America will be screaming for socialism.

[TRH1969]

08:23 PM on 05/08/2012

No we won't! Are you going to pay for it? Tax the rich 100% & you're still way short. REALLY.... WHO IS GOING TO PAY FOR IT? We already have more than debt than ever before.

[bobbyar410]

11:52 PM on 05/09/2012

WHO is WE?

WHO brought USA down ?

bush STARTED IT and to STOP it will take Mr.Obama another 4 years & after Mrs. Clinton another 8 years.

Who saved Detroit? Who in short 3 years captured and killed OBL and 3 of the highest alqueda terrorists?

Last year mayor bloomberg made 2 billion profit and he is against increasing the min wage, WHY?

Do you know how much 2 billion are? And he isn't in the top 100.

Middle class pays ALL the time the teabagers appetites.

[exitor]

04:44 PM on 05/08/2012

Hahahah French minion fools. You shall reap what you sow. I hope all the crazy liberals in the US watch you very carefully over the next few years, as this man attempts to tax and spend his way into the record books. You will see real socialism in action! Not Obama's watered down version. My condolences in advance to France and to the Euro.

[Freddu92]

03:18 AM on 05/09/2012

Liberalism has shown its results over last years and global crisis they can't solve or don't want to do it

[bobbyar410]

11:54 PM on 05/09/2012

Fscism and capitalism has shown better results huh?

[AnimalLover6]

09:54 AM on 05/08/2012

Who cares? Nothing will change. He will become drunk with self-importance and sell out the French people, like they all do. Just another rich, pompous white guy.

[Joyce70]

06:57 PM on 05/09/2012

"Who cares?"
I DO.

[bobbyar410]

11:56 PM on 05/09/2012

I DO.

IF YOU DO NOT CARE WHY YOU TYPE?

Do you have a thingy for white guys? Because I am color blind and I voted for Mr. Obama.

[clarinette02]

07:27 AM on 05/08/2012

From under point of view, French elections this Sunday were a story successful divorces. Divorce from a candidate who had badly deceived its voters, divorce and co-habitation of candidates, divorce of the Government and the Church.... Lets keep hope this is the 'civilised' evolution of human behaviour.
Read more : http://clarinettesblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/french-presidential-elections-a-successful-story-of-divorce/

[Macready]

06:22 AM on 05/08/2012

Viva La France . . Viva Hollande . . this is great news!

[Carolab]

01:42 AM on 05/08/2012

Howard Dean, leader of the US Democratic Party, was the first-ever mainstream Democrat politician to address the congress of the Party of European Socialists (PES), held in 2006 in Portugal. Ségolène Royal from France, Romano Prodi from Italy, and a gathering of other centre-left prime ministers and party leaders sat as Dean made a classic social-democratic pitch for better wages, stronger labour rights, an end to wars and a united front to tackle global warming. Following up, in April 2007, PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen reported that European socialists held a meeting “in the Democrats HQ in Washington,” met with officials of the party and Democratic members of Congress, and agreed that “PES activist groups” in various U.S. cities would start working together. In December 2009 Dean said that “cooperation” between European socialists and the Democratic Party has “intensified significantly” over the last several years and involves “regular contact” at “Congress, Senate, party and foundation levels.” He added that “efforts have been remarkable from both sides.” The Global Progressive Forum is also sponsored by the Socialist International, whose U.S. affiliate, the Democratic Socialists of America, includes long-time backers of Barack Obama.

[Carolab]

02:03 AM on 05/08/2012

Anyone at all impressed by this?  People ask all the time, whatever happened to Howard Dean?  Now you know.

[Lechiffre]

06:31 AM on 05/08/2012

Howard Dean?

Who dat be !

[sjaent2001]

01:33 AM on 05/08/2012

"In the whole of Europe it's time for change," Hollande told cheering crowds who gathered to hear his victory speech in Paris early Monday.------ Chicago Tribune 5/7/2012

Chicago Tribune reported news about Hollande, and that mused me. Hollande had said a great change has come to France and this Change will spread fast in the Continent of Europe. Is is possible the CHANGE we were looking for in 2009 had been OUTSOURCED and the real CHANGE has started taking place, of all the places, in FRANCE.

A wish to the French: """ - la possibilité de modifier, Accueil --Bienvenue en France."""

[FrenchImp]

08:12 AM on 05/08/2012

'Of all places in France?' The French may have many shortcomings, but we've been the starting point for change worldwide on several occasions in the past. However I get your allusion to Obama's change motto in 2008, and I don't agree with you. Obama did bring change, Obama did advocate state intervention in favor of growth and social justice, and I think that this message resonates with the people in France and in Europe. The French have elected a leader to carry that message, and I trust that this example will soon be imitated by our fellow Europeans.

[sjaent2001]

03:29 PM on 05/08/2012

That would really be a good change. In the case of the CE/BHO, his change was shortchanged by the GOP who in the first place, put all of US in this situation. I am for Change too, and that is why I wished French all the best.
Watch out that Sarzkosists do not let you and Hollande down or let them become like our GOP in France.
Camarade pour une fois, ca suffit!
DE bon Augure au France

[Kalemanao]

12:26 AM on 05/08/2012

CASABLANCA...

I think this is the ending of a beautiful friendship!

[FrenchImp]

08:14 AM on 05/08/2012

Of course not. Don't worry about that.

[Kalemanao]

11:41 PM on 05/08/2012

I was reminded of the "beautiful friendship" liine only because of watching network news of the French people who were pleased with the election results singing La Marseillaise... due to the "bar" scene with the Nazi singing whatever the Nazi's favorite song was/is...? No worries... No war with France... Franc-ly (EU) speaking!

[Joyce70]

06:59 PM on 05/09/2012

What a very VERY strange comment!

[DaveJohnWard]

12:26 AM on 05/08/2012

Gonna party like it's 1969!

[Lechiffre]

06:32 AM on 05/08/2012

Davy,

How did 1969 parties looked like ? or is the 69 aehm..yanno

[Kalemanao]

12:23 AM on 05/08/2012

CASABLANCA

I think this is the ending of a beautiful friendship...?

www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/quotes

Mrs. Leuchtag: So we should feel at home when we get to America. Carl: Very nice ..... [last lines] Rick: Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship

[FrenchImp]

08:15 AM on 05/08/2012

Oops, sorry, I answered the other post which was incomplete. I agree with you, of course.

[Kalemanao]

11:36 PM on 05/08/2012

Thank you. Sorry about that... Thought it had been deleted!

[JessCostello]

12:14 AM on 05/08/2012

It looks like France has decided to put off the hard cuts it needs to make.

[Freddu92]

03:23 AM on 05/09/2012

It looks like France has decided to take back the money Sarkozy gave to all richs with no talent, increasing the country debt like no other french president before

[JessCostello]

01:12 PM on 05/09/2012

Riches with no talent? As opposed to all the untalented public sector workers in France and Greece?