One government minister who is bucking his own party’s candidate to support Dati said her ability to communicate in a direct, forceful manner is “extraordinary” and “allows her to transcend traditional political divides.”
Geoffroy Boulard, the incumbent conservative mayor of Paris’ upscale 17th arrondissement, praised Dati as a “highly recognizable candidate who, through her personality and political background, is making our message heard in less well-off districts where we didn’t perform the last two times.”
Tough math
The passage to the second round, however, puts Dati in a tough spot.
If current polls hold steady, five candidates will net 10 percent of the vote and make the runoff. That would set up a slugfest featuring Dati, Grégoire, Pierre-Yves Bournazel from the center-right party Horizons, Sophia Chikirou of the hard-left France Unbowed and Sarah Knafo, a far-right member of the European Parliament.
PARIS LOCAL ELECTION POLL OF POLLS
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Dati is expected to outperform Bournazel and Knafo in the first round and wants at least one of them to bow out and back her in the runoff.
“With all due respect for other candidates, this is an election between Dati and Grégoire,” said centrist MEP Sandro Gozi, who is running alongside Dati to be a city councilor.