France's historic presidential election results, explained

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and center-left candidate Emmanuel Macron have won the first round and will move on to the final round of voting on May 7. According to French polling firm IPSOS, exit polls show Macron with 23.7 percent followed by Le Pen with 21.7 percent of the vote. Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon and conservative candidate Francois Fillon tied for third place with about 19.5 percent each.

The results also reveal a divided over the future of France and its place in Europe as a key member of the union, as the two victors in this round have polar opposite visions of the future. Quite simply: one vision is closed, one is open. One is nativist, one is worldly.

Le Pen heads the far-right National Front party, which in the past were known for characteristics such as xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and what’s called “soft-core” Holocaust denialism. Le Pen has tried hard to reform the party’s image, instead presenting a modern populist vision of France that is avowedly anti-globalization, anti-EU, and anti-immigrant.

Macron, a political neophyte who will be gunning to hold office for the first time, represents En Marche!, a brand-new center-left party. His vision for the future is of a more open, more tolerant, and more inclusive France at the center of a strong European Union.

In her victory speech Sunday evening, Le Pen called herself the “candidate of the people.” “You have allowed me to take part in the second round of the presidential campaign and it is an honor for me. And I accept it with humility and appreciation,” Le Pen said.

Macron, in his victory speech, said “I will gather people together...to reconcile our France.”

He promised to be a “president of all the French people, the president of patriots faced with the threat of nationalists. A president who will protect and transform and build. A president who will allow those who want to create, innovate, enterprise and work to do so more easily and more speedily. a president who helps those who have less.”

Now that were are in the final round we might get a more detailed dossier from both candidates on issues such as France’s future in the EU, immigration, etc.