Under the new system instituted in 2011, senators are elected for six-year terms in two classes.

They were divided in the following way: 1 new Senator each for the Ain, Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, Eure-et-Loir, Haute-Garonne, Gironde, Hérault, and Guyane départements and one in French Polynesia.

The election marked the first time that French Polynesia had two seats in the Senate instead of just one.

[3] The President of French Polynesia Gaston Tong Sang and another member of his coalition, Béatrice Vernaudon, a former member of the French National Assembly who lost her seat in June 2007, contested the seats.

[3] Former French Polynesian President Gaston Flosse ran for his Tahoeraa Huiraatira Party and teamed up with Richard Tuheiava, a member of the pro-independence party Union for Democracy.