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Sophie Joissains Launches 2026 Re‑election Bid in Aix‑en‑Provence as Crowded Race Takes Shape

Her candidacy enters a fragmented race that tests the Joissains family's long hold on Aix.

Overview

  • The outgoing UDI mayor, 56, formally declared her run on Friday and opened her campaign headquarters in the city of about 150,000 residents.
  • Rivals include PS deputy Marc Pena heading a left alliance of ecologists, communists and Place publique, LFI’s Julie Boronad on a separate list, RN’s Jean‑Louis Geiger, and Horizons dissident Philippe Klein on the centre‑right.
  • At her launch, Joissains highlighted security as a priority and promised not to raise local taxes, while saying party labels would be secondary to a project for the city.
  • The bid extends a family dynasty begun in 1978; her father left office in 1983 over a municipal financing scandal and her mother was later definitively convicted for misappropriation of public funds.
  • Her 2021 succession by council vote was denounced by the opposition as illegitimate, and the current campaign saw a security alert with activist Amine Kessaci exfiltrated before a Marc Pena rally, with an investigation opened.