Le Pen claims victory in first-round French vote

PARIS (NEWS 1130) – French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has claimed victory in the first-round presidential race and says that her National Front party will represent “the great alternative” to the French people.

With a broad smile, Le Pen has stood before an adoring crowd and pledged to open a much-needed debate on globalization. Her speech ended with the French national anthem.

With 34 percent of the vote counted, France’s Interior Ministry says Le Pen is leading with 24.6 percent of the vote followed by centrist Emmanuel Macron with 21.9 percent.

The early vote count includes primarily rural constituencies that lean to the right, while urban areas that lean left are counted later.

Le Pen has campaigned to leave the European Union, protect France’s borders, clamp down on immigration, and expel Islamic extremists.

Her success, along with that of centrist newcomer Macron, leaves the May 7 runoff without a mainstream political candidate for the first time in modern French history.

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