AP:
Sarkozy's party loses first-round vote in FranceBy ANGELA CHARLTON (AP) – 3 hours ago
PARIS — France's Socialist-led left defeated Nicolas Sarkozy's conservatives in the first round of regional elections Sunday, according to partial official results, in a new blow to the increasingly unpopular president.
Many voters blame Sarkozy and the governing conservatives for failing to protect jobs amid France's worst economic downturn since World War II, and for not keeping their promise to make the country prosper in the face of growing global competition.
With more than 81 percent of votes counted, candidates from the Socialist and other leftist parties won 53.6 percent of the overall vote, according to the Interior Ministry.
Sarkozy's conservative UMP party and others on the right have 39.6 percent. The far right National Front did better than pollsters predicted and had the possibility of coming in third nationwide, with 11.7 percent, closely followed by green-minded party Europe Ecologie with 11 percent, according to the ministry.
The first-round results suggest the Socialists and their allies will win control of the overwhelming majority of France's 26 regions. The Socialists already run 20 of the 22 regions on the French mainland after trouncing conservatives in the last elections in 2004. .........(more)
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