Michigan Democrats have a 6 to 2 majority on the state’s board of education, and are defending both seats in play this year. One of the 2 GOP candidates is Bree Moeggenberg, chair of a Moms for Liberty chapter who has self-published a book titled: “Pronouns. Pronouns. Pronouns. NOT SHMONOUNS.”

This is saying people who are already party members don’t have to pay again because they’ve already paid 15 euros, and party members de facto can vote in the primary. Tens of thousands of people, most, paid and could do so without party membership.

Also, there was an alternative proposal on the table (Faure’s) for it to be 2 euros rather 15 euros.

No this is incorrect. For one Glucksmann is not on the PS, so this was not an intra-party primary. They set up a system for people to sign up for 15 euros just to vote, no party membership. And most people in this electorate were signed up via that.

I forgot to mention would-be voters had to pay 15 euros to participate in this primary……….

No, that’s not at issue here! No one to the left of the conservative party would outright support Le Pen.

The “popular front” concept is probably a lot more relevant in parliamentary elections and whether (1) the far right can win a majority of the Assembly, and (2) whether the left has a chance, then in the presidential race that has a top 2 dynamic anyway in which Le Pen is certain of a spot.

Polls suggest Le Pen is all but certain to make the “top 2” runoff, with more than 30% of the vote. Question is who joins her. Currently, Macron’s former prime minister Philippe and Melenchon, and to a lesser extent Glucksmann, are the only ones to poll in the 12-19% range.

Melanchon and Glucksmann are both going to be candidates in the first round of the presidential election next spring. There are likely to be other “smaller” left candidates, eg the Green Party. There’ll also be 1 or more Macronist candidate, the conservative party candidate, and Le Pen.

This all but kills any sort of possible left-wide arc, certainly before the presidential election, but perhaps also before the parliamentary elections a month later; the last elections had seen a left-wide “New Popular Front” bloc Glucksmann was very critical of.

France’s center-left just held a primary for a presidential candidate. Raphael Glucksmann, the much more centrist candidate who is adamantly opposed to any alliance with the radical left of Jean-Luc Melanchon, easily prevailed, crushing the Socialist Party leader who’d organized those alliances.

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