2012 François Hollande presidential campaign

On 16 October 2011 he won the Socialist and Radical Left Party nomination with more than 56% of the votes over First Secretary Martine Aubry, following a long campaign.

He publicly declared his support for Bertrand Delanoë, the Mayor of Paris, although it was Martine Aubry who would go on to win the race to succeed him in 2008.

Without personal announcement it was the first of many speech where he would polish his image as a credible alternative to both Nicolas Sarkozy and the others socialist front figures, mainly Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Martine Aubry and Ségolène Royal.

A poll showed that 50% of people believed Aubry should be given the job, followed by Moscovici on 17%, Laurent Fabius on 11%, Jean-Marc Ayrault on 10% and Sapin on 9%.

Boosted by his victory, Hollande was constantly in mind in the first round and widely the projected winner against President Nicolas Sarkozy in a hypothetical runoff.