2008 French Senate election

← 2004 21 September 2008 2011 →
A third of seats (114) to the French Senate
First party Second party Third party   Leader Henri de Raincourt Jean-Pierre Bel Michel Mercier Party UMP PS UDF Leader's seat Yonne Ariège Rhône Last election 159 95 30 Seats won 151 116 29 Seat change 8 21 1
President of the Senate before election Christian Poncelet UMP Elected President of the Senate Gérard Larcher UMP

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Indirect Senate elections were held for 114 of the 343 seats in the French Senate on 21 September 2008.^[1] With this election, the number of senators was increased from 331 to 343; Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin elected two senators each for the first time. Furthermore, this election was the last to be held under the old system: prior to this election, senators were elected in three classes for nine-year terms. Under the new system instituted in 2011, senators are elected for six-year terms in two classes.^[2]

Twelve new seats were filled in this election. They were divided in the following way: 1 new Senator each for the Ain, Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, Eure-et-Loir, Haute-Garonne, Gironde, Hérault, and Guyane départements and one in French Polynesia.

The election marked the first time that French Polynesia had two seats in the Senate instead of just one.^[3] The President of French Polynesia Gaston Tong Sang and another member of his coalition, Béatrice Vernaudon, a former member of the French National Assembly who lost her seat in June 2007, contested the seats.^[3] Former French Polynesian President Gaston Flosse ran for his Tahoeraa Huiraatira Party and teamed up with Richard Tuheiava, a member of the pro-independence party Union for Democracy.^[3]

For the 114 seats up for election, the electoral college was composed of 50,720 elected officials (49,602 in metropolitan France). Of these, 48,453 were local councillors, 178 were MPs, 765 were regional councillors and 1,504 were general councillors.

• Departments with 1 to 3 senators: Two-round system, using the same system as legislative elections.
• Departments with 4 or more senators: Proportional representation, highest averages method, no Panachage or preferential voting.