The French left-wing opposition claimed to have won a Senate majority for the first time in more than 50 years as France voted on Sunday to fill half the Senate seats in indirect elections.
Some 72,000 delegates, mainly from municipal and regional councils, were voting for the 170 Senate seats out of 348.
The left needed to win 23 seats from conservatives to secure a majority in France's upper house of parliament. The right wing has controlled the Senate since the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958.
The election has not ended, but the left have at least 175 seats. Final results are expected later on Sunday.
Sarkozy is expected to announce soon that he will run for a second term in next April's election.
