In a by-election in Wallis and Futuna to choose a member of the French parliament, Victor Brial has won the first round of voting by getting just under 47 percent of the vote.
Mr Brial of the UMP Party came just ahead of an independent, Penisio Tialetagi, who won more than 45 percent.
A second and final round will be held next weekend.
The new election was called after the Constitutional Council in Paris declared last December that Mr Brial had not been elected properly because of the way some ballot papers were marked.
