2026 Municipal Elections: One in Two French People Will Vote Again for Their Mayor, According to a Survey

Confidence in mayors appears to be at a high. More than one in two French people (56%) want to see their current mayor re-elected in the next municipal elections in 2026 , according to an Ifop/Ouest-France poll published Sunday.

"When asked if you would like your mayor to be re-elected at the end of his or her term in 2026 if he or she runs again , 56% of those surveyed said yes ," notes this survey of 1,500 people. This desire for re-election is particularly high among voters in the presidential majority (76% of Renaissance supporters) and on the right (68% of LR supporters).

This survey, which also notes, quite logically, that the mayor is better known the smaller the municipality, notes that this desire for stability varies according to the size of the municipality: the "desire for re-election" is 64% in municipalities with fewer than 3,500 inhabitants, 61% in those with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants, and 46% in the largest towns.

If their constituents show their confidence, do mayors even want to stay in office? Last November, 83% of them felt that their mandate was "wearing on their health," according to a vast study supported by the AMF (Association of Mayors of France), led by researchers from the Center for the Sociology of Organizations (CSO) and revealed by Le Parisien .

The last municipal elections in 2020 revealed record abstention rates : 55% in the first round and 58% in the second, more than 20 points higher than in the second round of the 2014 municipal elections.