It is one of the largest constituencies in the department, with very diverse realities. The 9th district of the Gironde has 88 municipalities, some all close to the Bordeaux metropolissuch as Cadaujac or Léognan, others close to the Bassin d’Arcachon (Salles, Lugos, Le Barp) and towns on the edge of Lot-et-Garonne and Landes. The member of this patchwork, crossed by the Landes de Gascogne forest, has been since 2017 Sophie Mette (MoDem) candidate for her succession under the label Ensemble!, of the presidential majority.
“Sophie Mette has every chance of winning”, according to the Girondin political scientist Jean Petaux. The elected representative of Bazas has perhaps already done the hardest part by recovering the label of the presidential majority, facing two heavyweights of the department who coveted it: Michel Dufranc and Gilles Savary, already candidates in 2017, respectively under the colors Republicans and the Socialist Party.
Yellow vests, Horizeo and Alibaba
But the five years that have just passed in this constituency have been turbulent, marked by the strong presence of yellow vests in Langon and Saint-Macaire as well as by three big controversial projects : the Bordeaux-Toulouse LGV, the probable installation of an e-commerce giant in Belin-Beliet and the Horizeo solar power plant mega-project in Saucats.
The oppositions hope to pull the chestnuts out of the fire: on the results of the first round of the presidential election, the total Nupes comes first. However, the dynamic seems on the side of the National Rally: between the two presidential elections of 2017 and 2022Marine Le Pen won almost eight points in the first round.
Hoping to continue this momentum, it is a 30-year-old candidate, who will represent the RN. Damien Obradormunicipal councilor in Cabanac-et-Villagrains, wants to be confident. “Between 2017 and 2022, it is in this constituency that the progression was the most important for the RN in Gironde”, he counts. “In the Landes des Graves, we had scores with several municipalities at 60%, in the Bazadais also.”
The objective is the same for Nupes, whose head in the South-Gironde has been entrusted to a beginner in politics. Sacha André, 24 years oldis “a hope of being in the second round, and more than that, because we are united behind a single candidacy”. However, in the first round of the 2022 presidential election, Jean-Luc Mélenchon made “only” 19%, three points below its national score, and a score down from 2017.
If Sophie Mette passed five years ago, it is because there was 50% abstention
The challenge for these two outsiders will therefore be to mobilize their electorates. “If Sophie Mette passed five years ago, it was because there was 50% abstention”, notes Sacha André. “If the voters who voted Marine Le Pen for president mobilize, we can win”, hope Damien Obrador.
So, for that, the candidate on the left drives around the constituency with a red 2CV to provide residents “a book of grievances, which will be published, whether I win or not. This will make it possible to hear the voice of South Gironde”. His opponent from the RN bets him “more than ever” on the purchasing power theme. “Emmanuel Macron and Élisabeth Borne announced a future law on purchasing power, hence the interest of having RN deputies in the Assembly, because we have very concrete proposals”, assures Damien Obrador.
Target in the back, Sophie Mette defends her record and that of the majority. “I have nothing to be ashamed of either my personal record or that of Emmanuel Macron. I consider that we reacted quickly after the yellow vests, with the great debate”. “I am a local elected official, I have lived here for more than 30 years. I know the difficulties of housing, mobility, purchasing power”, she assures, considering reductions for the South-Girondins who take the A62 towards Bordeaux, idea already supported by the mayor of Langon, Jérôme Guillem.
The outgoing is still tackled by her opponent of the Republicans, René Cardoitwho does not “did not find it very present locally”. The mayor of Goualade, a village of 88 inhabitants in the Bazadais, sees this candidacy as the “logical continuation of [s]we travel”. And hope not to suffer too much from Valérie Pécresse’s score (3.73% on the constituency):‘”My place, I made it before Valérie Pécresse was appointed. I do not believe that we find the score of the national level on our territory”, he wishes.
Because the LR candidate was preceded, here, by Jean Lassalle. His party Resist! does not invest anyone, but it is close to the Movement of rurality, represented by Armelle Cruse, elected to Préchac, who hopes to ride the wave. “We have a lot of common ideas. On the defense of agriculture, livestock, course circuits… But also public services, daily trains…” This raises – inevitably – the question of the LGV.
Their position on the LGV
They are against
Sophie Mette (Together!) : “The money provided for in this LGV can be devoted to daily trains, from South Gironde to Bordeaux. I have been against it for a long time. The majority supports it because these are the big state projects, but I think I can be against it, being from this territory, logically.”
Sacha André (NUPES) : “It is an anti-ecological project, which will destroy a good part of the Ciron valley and which will not benefit the inhabitants of South-Gironde, therefore anti-social. In addition, we will pay for it through various taxes. ”
René Cardoit (The Republicans) : “My town is cut in two by the LGV. It was one of the first projects on my desk. I’m not against progress, the LGV is needed, but not where it is. The journey is full of nonsense, ecological, financial, human. There was a project on the old line which seemed to me much more appropriate”.
Armelle Cruse (Movement of rurality): “I’m not against the LGV, but it’s not the priority. We realize that it’s a lot of money spent on a minority of people, when we need money for the trains of the daily. There are lines to be restarted. In most municipalities, we have a growing number of inhabitants, and we need the services opposite “.
He is for
Damien Obrador (National Gathering): “I am for the LGV, but I dispute the financing. The big investiture projects must be financed by the State, we are not going to pick the pockets of individuals or companies. Economically, I think that this LGV, with the station planned next to Captieux, will bring economic dynamism to this area.”
The list of candidates
- Sacha ANDRE (Nupes – La France insoumise)
- Serge DETRIEUX (Radical Left Party)
- Jean-Philippe DELCAMP (Workers struggle)
- Sophie METTE (Together! – MoDem)
- Damien OBRADOR (National Gathering)
- Valerie VILTET (animal party)
- Guillaume BESET (various)
- Milene GELLÉ (various)
- René CARDOIT (The Republicans)
- Sylvie MANTEL (Reconquest!)
- Jean-Claude LALOUBERE (various)
- Armelle CRUSE (Movement of rurality)
- Maeva BOGO (various)