Jean-Luc Moudenc, the center-right outgoing mayor of Toulouse since 2014, is running a delicate campaign to retain his seat against left-wing opponents. At 65, he draws on a local record that contrasts with the city's national voting trends. His challengers include socialist François Briançon and LFI deputy François Piquemal.
Jean-Luc Moudenc, who joined the city council in 1987 alongside Dominique Baudis, aims for a third term after wins in 2014 and 2020. Describing himself as a "centrist Christian democrat and European," he leads the list "Protégeons l’avenir de Toulouse." Having left Les Républicains in 2022 – because "the party had shrunk into a very right-wing positioning," as he says – he has the backing of the entire right, from Renaissance to Horizons including LR.
In 2020, he narrowly won with 51.98% of the votes against ecologist Antoine Maurice, head of the left alliance "Archipel citoyen," in a campaign disrupted by Covid-19. "The 2020 campaign was bad, too soft, we've shifted gears," the mayor explains. Starting his campaign early, he balances defending his record as mayor and president of Toulouse Métropole with his candidate role. "Serene" but "combative," he warns: "the battle will be tight, a good record doesn't make the election."
Toulouse shows a paradox: the city votes largely left in national elections, but stays right-leaning locally, except for the socialist interlude under Pierre Cohen from 2008 to 2014. Before that, the Baudis dynasty governed the Pink City from 1971 to 2001, with Philippe Douste-Blazy. Moudenc faces François Briançon, allied with the Greens and the French Communist Party, as well as François Piquemal, LFI deputy for the 4th constituency.
