Marion Anne Perrine Le Pen, known as “Marine,” is a French far right candidate who is showing real strength (15.5 percent in the polls) among blue collar and middle class voters. She opposes further immigration, has been a vocal critic of a growing Muslim presence in France, is skeptical of the European Union and the euro, and favors protectionist measure for France to counter the negative impact of globalization.
Blonde and telegenic, last year she took over the National Front party founded by her father Jean-Marie, Europe’s leading far right figure. She paints herself as a modern-day Joan of Arc defending France from invaders and has focused more on anti-Islam diatribes than the perceived anti-Semitism of her father.
Ms. Le Pen was born in affluent Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. She is trained as a lawyer and is twice divorced with three children. She has not held public office, but has run her father’s presidential campaigns and shows his capacity for sharp speaking and wit.
Le Pen has been a force in the 2012 election season, polling at 15 to 19 percent in polls that have historically under-counted the nationalist right. Le Pen was initially feared by Sarkozy as a grassroots winner in the first round, but now the concern is that she will be a spoiler, urging her voters to stay home in the second round.
