Faure challenges Glucksmann in French centre-left primary ahead of 2027 presidential race

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PARIS — Raphaël Glucksmann’s dream of becoming the next president of France faces an unexpected obstacle: winning a center-left primary that’s just become surprisingly competitive.

Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure on Sunday announced he would challenge Glucksmann in the contest, turning what had been expected to be an easy win for the 46-year-old MEP into a stumbling block that could doom his candidacy months before the spring 2027 contest.

Glucksmann had agreed to take part in the Socialist-run primary despite not being a member to secure its endorsement and financing for his presidential bid. Recent polling has shown he is his political camp’s best option to confront far-right front-runner Marine Le Pen, and before Faure entered the contest, few challengers looked likely to dethrone him. They include three MPs with relatively modest profiles and Ségolène Royal, the Socialist candidate in the 2007 presidential election.

Influential left-leaning businessman and media mogul Mathieu Pigasse, tapped by the United States to restructure Venezuela’s debt, is also mulling a primary run, according to a person close to him who, like others in this piece, was granted anonymity to candidly discuss the state of the race.

But Faure, who has led the Socialists for more than eight years, is the most likely to offer Glucksmann a run for his money.

One Socialist lawmaker said it’ll now be a close contest. Another one of the party’s MPs said Faure can sometimes appear immortal, “kind of like Highlander.”

Glucksmann is already facing attacks for his brand of centrist-leaning politics and an elitist image bolstered by his relationship with a top French TV anchor and his childhood as the son of a famous philosopher.

In an interview Monday, Royal referred to Glucksmann as “the media’s darling child.” MP Philippe Brun, who is running in the primary, last week called Glucksmann the French equivalent of a coastal elite.

Whoever wins the primary will face the specter of François Hollande’s imposing shadow. The former president is eyeing a comeback — but has decided to forgo the primary.

Hollande, who, like Faure, has a book coming out in September, is waiting until December to make his decision.

The former French leader is reportedly betting that whoever wins the primary will crash out by the end of the year and turn to him.

Speaking to POLITICO over the weekend, Hollande said his plan wasn’t to put pressure on Glucksmann and that he would be sticking to his own calendar.

“I know primaries can have a galvanizing effect. That’s probably what the participants are hoping for. But they can also fuel divisions,” he said.

Anthony Lattier, Judith Chetrit and Clea Caulcutt contributed to this report.