The 2026 Marseille municipal election was held on 15 March to elect the municipal council of Marseille (which in turn elects the mayor), with an eventual runoff on 22 March. This election followed the tenure of Mayor Benoît Payan, in office since December 2020, who ran for a full term. Following a second round of elections, Payan was declared the winner of the election.

Background Benoît Payan, a member of the Socialist Party (PS), was first elected mayor in 2020, after Michèle Rubirola, who had only served for a few months, resigned. He quit the PS after his election, preferring to focus on local rather than national politics. LFI, which was part of his majority at the beginning, split away as the mayor became more and more critical of the party. Payan announced his intention to run for reelection in 2026, while LFI member Sébastien Delogu announced his intention to challenge the mayor. Martine Vassal, candidate for The Republicans (LR) in 2020, also announced her intention to run. She had quit her party in 2022, but nevertheless gathered its support as well as the support of centre-right parties Renaissance (RE) and Horizons (HOR) that did not support her in 2020. Senator Stéphane Ravier, candidate for the National Rally (RN) in 2020, quit his party in 2022 and initially intended to run with his local party Marseille d'Abord, but finally announced he was supporting Franck Allisio (RN) in his candidacy. Allisio managed to get the support of some of Martine Vassal's close allies, making them join the Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR).

Electoral system and context The 2026 election was influenced by ongoing discussions about electoral reform in Marseille. President Macron proposed that mayors in Paris, Lyon, and Marseille be elected by direct universal suffrage rather than by an electoral college of city councilors, a system viewed as "anti-democratic" by some candidates.

Candidates Miscellaneous left Christine Juste Benoît Payan, incumbent mayor Payan was also supported by PS, LE, PCF and PP.

Miscellaneous right Erwan Davoux Martine Vassal, president of the Departmental Council of Bouches-du-Rhône, municipal councillor Vassal was also supported by LR, RE, HOR, UDI and MoDem.

La France Insoumise Sébastien Delogu, deputy

National Rally Franck Allisio, deputy and municipal councillor Allisio was also supported by UDR and REC.

Campaign In November 2025, Frédéric Collart withdrew from the race just after Erwann Davoux announced he was a candidate, in an alliance with Nora Preziosi. In December 2025, Martine Vassal caused a scandal by publicly refusing to rule out of an alliance in the second round with Franck Allisio of the National Rally. Following protests against such an alliance in Renaissance (that supports her candidacy), Vassal reasserted her will to fight against the "extremes" and denied any rumors of fusion with Allisio. Also in December 2025, in his first campaign meeting, Sébastien Delogu made controversial statements about the police. Franck Allisio and Martine Vassal condemned his words, and so did the prefect of the department. On 19 March, the candidate of LFI withdrew from the race in order to minimalise the risk of a RN candidate winning.

Polling

First round Polling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize Bazzali Delogu Payan Davoux Vassal AllisioOthers Ifop 23-28 Feb 2025 703 0.5% 13% 35% 1.5% 18% 32% — Cluster17 23-25 Feb 2026 807 0.5% 15% 34% 2.5% 15% 33% — OpinionWay 16-23 Feb 2026 1,010 <1% 14% 34% 2% 14% 34% 2% Elabe 9-16 Feb 2026 800 1% 12% 31% 2% 21% 29% 4% OpinionWay 6-12 Jan 2026 703 1% 14% 31% 3% 20% 31% — Ipsos 2-8 Jan 2026 801 1% 14% 30% 2% 23% 30% — Ifop 25-30 Nov 2025 829 — 15% 30% 2% 26% 27% — Cluster17 4-7 Nov 2025 816 0.5% 16% 29% — 23% 29% 2.5% Ifop 28-31 Oct 2025 700 — 13% 32% — 29% 23% 3%

Second round Polling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize Delogu Payan Vassal Allisio Ifop23-28 Feb 2025703 11% 38% 17% 34% — 46% 18% 36% — 55% — 45% OpinionWay16-23 Feb 20261,010 13% 36% 15% 37% — 47% 15% 38% Elabe9-16 Feb 2026800 12% 34% 22% 32% — 45% 23% 32% 14% 44% — 42% — 56% — 44% OpinionWay6-12 Jan 2026703 15% 43% — 42% — 55% — 45% Cluster174-7 Nov 2025816 16.5% 30.5% 24% 29% — 45% 25% 30% Ifop 28-31 Oct 2025 700 — 39% 34% 27%

Results CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond roundSeatsVotes%Votes%Nb.+/-Benoît PayanDVG-PS-LE-PCF-PP-G.s-GRS-D!-GÉ-ND36.70%163,58654.34%73 +23Franck AllisioRN-UDR-REC-RPR35.02%121,31040.30%34 +25Martine VassalDVD-LR-RE-HOR-UDI-MoDem-LC-RES12.41%16,1345.36%4−35Sébastien DeloguLFI-REV-POI-PG-NPA11.94%Withdrawal00Erwan DavouxDVC1.85%—0Christine JusteDVG0.96%0Rémy BazzaliLO0.73%0Coralie RaynaudPT0.38%0Registered voters100.00100.00Abstention3,2151.04Total votes307,704Blank or invalid votes3,4591.12Valid votes

Sector mayors SectorOutgoing memberPartyElected mayorPartyOf totalMarseilleBenoît PayanDVGBenoît PayanDVG54.34%1stSophie CamardGRSSophie CamardGRS47.45%2ndAnthony KrehmeierPSPS49.76%3rdDidier JauLEDidier JauLE44.48%4thPierre Benarroche*UGDVG51.51%5thAnne-Marie d'Estienne d'Orves*DVDEléonore BezRN50.41%6thSylvain SouvestreLRRN49.59%7thMarion BareilleDVDPS50.89%8thNadia Boulainseur*DVGSamia GhaliDVG46.07%*not running for re-election

See also 2026 French municipal elections 2026 Lyon municipal election 2026 Nancy municipal election 2026 Nice municipal election 2026 Paris municipal election 2026 Toulouse municipal election

References