Eric Ciotti, 60, led the first round with 43.4 percent of the vote. The incumbent mayor, Christian Estrosi, a former industry minister under former right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy, scored just over 30 percent and now faces a battle to claw his way back in Sunday’s runoff.

“The people of Nice have expressed a desire to turn the page … The time for change has come,” a triumphant Ciotti said after the first-round vote. His lead was fueled by local rivalries, scandal and a feud with Estrosi that stretches back decades.

The campaign took an ugly turn when a pig’s head, alongside a printed slur and a Star of David, was tied to the gate of Estrosi’s home — seen as a particularly gratuitous attack since his wife is Jewish.

The case has now become even murkier. Estrosi initially blamed political opponents, but investigators are now exploring whether people within his own camp may have orchestrated the crime, the prosecutor said this month. Two arrests were made. Estrosi says he is the victim of “manipulation” and that he is awaiting the outcome of the investigation.

Prosecutor Damien Martinelli said there was, so far, “no evidence” implicating anyone beyond those already identified, adding that Estrosi and his wife would be questioned as witnesses.

Two rights

If Ciotti wins, the victory will ripple across the whole of France, well beyond the pebble beaches of the Côte d’Azur. It’s not just a story about a big city turning to an ally of Le Pen, but also one about whether the traditional conservative camp — the party of Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac — could ultimately team up with the far right.