Far-Right Candidate Challenges Socialist Mayor in France’s Marseille

A far-right National Rally candidate is tied with the incumbent Socialist mayor in polls ahead of Marseille's mayoral election this Sunday. Security concerns and drug-related violence have become central campaign issues in France's second-largest city.

MARSEILLE, France – Campaign advertisements focusing on public safety by a far-right National Rally contender have energized supporters in Marseille’s mayoral contest, with one backer saying the messaging has swayed previously hesitant family members.

Franck Allisio’s promotional materials, set to stirring background music, pledge to expand the municipal police force threefold, install twice as many surveillance cameras, and establish law enforcement stations throughout every neighborhood to “restore joy” to Marseille residents.

Current polling data shows Allisio running neck-and-neck with sitting Socialist Mayor Benoit Payan before Sunday’s initial voting round, giving the RN party an unprecedented opportunity to control France’s second-most populous city.

The Mediterranean port city, renowned for its ancient harbor and coastal scenery, has emerged as ground zero in officials’ fight against a national cocaine epidemic, as documented in a 2024 senate study.

Public safety ranks as voters’ primary concern before France’s dual-stage municipal elections scheduled for March 15 and March 22, according to polling data, potentially favoring the RN’s hardline crime policies.

Allisio’s competitive position in Marseille mirrors nationwide patterns, with surveys indicating the RN – an anti-immigration organization historically associated with racial prejudice and antisemitism – might capture the presidency in 2027.

“We must secure victory in the municipal contests, and afterward our objective is the presidential race,” stated RN supporter Marie-Helene Martin, who works as an educator.

An Ifop survey from March revealed that Allisio’s chances depend on the number of opponents advancing to the runoff. Should leftist groups unite behind one nominee, Payan would likely prevail by ten percentage points. However, a four-way split could create a closer contest.

Municipal leaders in France possess restricted authority over local safety matters, overseeing city police departments that have fewer capabilities and resources than federal law enforcement.

Despite these limitations, both Allisio and Payan have positioned crime prevention as their campaign centerpieces.

“Clearly we have become the narcotics capital,” Allisio stated to Reuters. “We are experiencing an explosion in drug trafficking, and confronting this situation, for years… nothing has been accomplished.”

Payan rejected claims of negligence, highlighting improvements to the local police department.

“The far right is exploiting anxieties,” he explained to Reuters. “In the end, it’s not tackling the security problem, since what it suggests is essentially nothing or entirely impractical.”

Government statistics indicated a 4.1% drop in total criminal activity in Marseille during the previous year compared to 2024, and law enforcement records show drug-connected homicides decreased following a 2023 spike, though narcotics-related murders have alarmed citizens.

Claire Duport, a researcher with the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addictive Trends, noted that while drug-associated violence wasn’t increasing in Marseille relative to earlier decades, killings had evolved from targeted revenge to more random attacks.

“The sense of danger is understandable – it simply doesn’t reflect broader patterns,” she explained.

To strengthen his public safety credentials, Payan has recruited Amine Kessaci, a prominent 22-year-old anti-narcotics advocate who lost two siblings in drug-connected killings, to join his campaign team.

Speaking from the left-wing alliance offices, Kessaci told Reuters that the RN’s proposals would not address the underlying social factors driving drug-related violence that the Socialists intended to tackle.

“We’re going to counter drug trafficking through healthcare, through education, through transportation, through housing,” he said.

In La Busserine, among the northern areas most impacted by narcotics violence, some locals also criticized the RN’s messaging. Fadella Ouidef, who does volunteer work at the community social center, expressed annoyance that security dominated campaign discussions.

“The far right always controls the conversation… All they can articulate is security, security, security,” said the mother of four, who worried the implicit message suggested Arab and Black residents were “the troublemakers.”

A quarter-hour stroll away, four young people were distributing drugs to sporadic customers near a towering, rundown apartment complex called “Le Mail.” Ouidef mentioned she stays away from Le Mail, but feels comfortable in the multicultural La Busserine neighborhood, where she has resided for 17 years.

“If the National Rally gains control… it will be catastrophic,” Ouidef said, expressing concerns about potential RN reductions to social programs and describing drug addiction as an urgent public health crisis.

“They believe that by generating more social difficulties, they’ll produce more security, but they’ll quickly discover it will generate more hardship and more crime,” she said. “People like them have no interest in people like us.”