6603 Candidates, 557 Seats

The typical candidate is a man of 50, a manager or a member of a liberal profession. Women, who are 52% of the population, represent 40% of the candidates: 49% of the Front National, 45% of the Socialist Party and 26% of the UMP candidates are women.

The Front National is presenting 571 candidates, the Socialists 472, and the UMP 502.

Note: This is interesting. The FN has more candidates than there are seats. Possibly more than one candidate from a party can run in any given district?

Another article paints a rather unpromising picture for the Front National in today's election.:

Historically, in the legislative elections, the FN has always had a score at least 5 points lower than what it obtained in the presidential. In 2002 Jean-Marie Le Pen obtained 16.86% of the votes in the first round on April 21, but only 11.1% of the votes in June in the legislative election.

All polls taken between June 1 and June 6 give the Rassemblement Bleu Marine (RBM) 14% - 15% of the votes.

The most favorable hypothesis for Marine Le Pen's party is a gap of almost two points between the presidential and the legislative elections.

Note: Since she got 17.9% of the votes on April 22, she may at best get 15.9% of the votes. But the question really is: Will the RBM candidates make it to the second round?

Today, those close to Marine Le Pen would like to think they will make it to the second round in 150 - 200 voting districts. The UMP party, however, believes that only about 80 of her candidates will make it.

Sources: Le Figaro, here and here.