French projections: Macron’s centrists will keep a majority

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance is expected to keep its parliamentary majority after the first round of voting Sunday, but will likely have far fewer seats than five years ago. According to projections based on partial results, Macron’s party and its allies got about 25-26% of the vote Sunday on the national level. They were neck-and-neck with a new leftist coalition. Yet Macron’s candidates are projected to win in a greater number of districts than their leftist rivals. More than 6,000 candidates were running for 577 seats in France’s National Assembly in the first round of the election. For races that did not have a decisive winner on Sunday, up to four candidates will compete in a second round of voting on June 19.