After the worst presidential rout for her party since Charles de Gaulle founded the French modern conservative movement in the 1960s, Pécresse, 52, appealed for donations and said that it would need to find €16 million because it did not qualify for a state rebate.
Under electoral law, almost half of a candidate’s maximum legal spending of €17 million is reimbursed from public funds if they score more than 5 per cent of the vote. Pécresse got only 4.75 per cent, which entitles her to €800,000.
State funding of political parties doesn’t solve everything then…..
She wasn’t as hated as Hildago, but the stitch up of her candidacy meant many republicans must have stayed home. AFAIK her manifesto wasn’t utterly bonkers, unlike others.