2004 French regional elections
Candidate Party Votes ( Round One ) % ( Round One ) Votes ( Round Two ) % ( Round Two )
Jean-Jack Queyranne PS - PRG - PCF 688,718 32.19% 1,083,755 46.52%
Anne-Marie Comparini UDF - UMP - CAP21 - FRS 667,856 31.22% 889,815 38.20%
Bruno Gollnisch FN 389,565 18.21% 355,864 15.28%
Gérard Leras Verts 215,783 10.09% - -
Patrick Bertrand GRAD-Union of Radical Republicans ( U2R ) 46,611 2.18% - -
Norbert Chetail MNR 35,310 1.65% - -
Roseline Vachetta LO / LCR 95,524 4.47% - -
Total 2,139,367 100.00% 2,329,434 100.00%
Results by region -- Rhône-Alpes
Regional elections in were held in France on 21 and 28 March 2004. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 regions which, although they do not have legislative powers, manage sizeable budgets. The results were a triumph for the parties of the left, led by the French Socialist Party (PS) in alliance with minor parties including the French Communist Party (PCF), the Left Radical Party (PRG) and The Greens (Les Verts). The left has usually fared moderately well in regional elections, but this was their best result since the regional system was introduced. The left won control of twenty of the twenty-two regions of metropolitan France, defeating the parties of the mainstream right, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and the Union for French Democracy (UDF), and the extreme right National Front (FN). The results were seen as a major setback for the then President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.