Le Pen faces Macron in final round of French presidential election

In the first round of the French presidential elections, it is apparent that the far-right populist Marine Le Pen and the novice Emmanuel Macron are the leading candidates for the next round of elections. Macron had a slight edge over Le Pen with 23.7% of the votes to Le Pen's 21.8%. The 2017 election is contrary to traditional French politics because neither candidate is a member of the dominant political parties. Many attribute this change in tradition to world events, such as Britain leaving the EU and the election of Donald Trump. Le Pen's anti-immigration and anti-European Union rhetoric have gained her many nationalistic supporters while Macron, a former banker, represents a sense of optimism for  the French to break away from the elitism of politics. The two candidates are set to compete in the second election for the presidential nomination on May 7th. 

 http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/23/europe/french-presidential-election-results/index.html 


Sarah Obrist