High-stakes French legislative election hits torrid final stretch before first-round voting begins

With their own and France’s fates in the balance, candidates are making their last campaign pushes for the first round of voting in a pivotal and polarizing French legislative election. The centrist government of French President Emmanuel Macron risks a potentially fatal beating at the hands of the surging far right. Pollsters indicate that the anti-immigration National Rally could greatly increase its number of lawmakers in the National Assembly. Such an outcome in the very uncertain election could radically alter the trajectory of the European Union’s largest country and hamstring Macron. Friday was the last day of campaigning before Sunday's first-round vote.