PARIS — French voters are voting for the Socialist candidate who will face a tough battle to beat rivals from the far-left, the far-right and the political center in France’s presidential election this spring.
Sunday’s choice in the Socialist primary runoff is a stark one, between two candidates on opposite poles of the beleaguered party with sharply different plans for France.
With a headline-grabbing proposal to pay all French adults a monthly stipend, the 49-year-old Benoit Hamon has emerged from obscurity on the Socialist left to win the primary’s first round against six other candidates last weekend.
On Sunday, he is facing former Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
The 54-year-old Valls has emphasized his experience in government, which includes a time when attackers killed 147 people in France in January and November 2015.