Macron, Fillon Pull Ahead of Le Pen in French Presidential Race

Far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is still projected to win 26 percent in the first round of the election due in April, while independent presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron is hot on her heels with 25 percent and his conservative rival Francois Fillon is trailing behind with 21 percent, according to the poll.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — French independent presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron and his conservative rival Francois Fillon have widened the lead on far-right hopeful Marine Le Pen in a fresh poll out Wednesday.

Le Pen is still projected to win 26 percent in the first round of the election due in April. Macron is hot on her heels with 25 percent and Fillon is trailing behind with 21 percent, according to an OpinionWay poll.

But in the May runoff, Le Pen is on track to lose to Macron 38 percent to 62 percent of votes after having lost 2 points in just a couple of days, while Fillon is anticipated to beat her by 60 percent to 40 percent.

The OpinionWay survey was held on March 5-7 among 1,574 of French adult voters. The French election campaign has been described as one of the dirtiest after two key candidates came under fire for alleged corruption.