Francois Hollande leads French left's presidential primary

More than two million people voted in France's first U.S.-style primary election to select a presidential candidate, which the Socialists say was inspired by the process that gave Barack Obama the momentum to take the White House.

The Socialist Party published preliminary results showing Hollande in front with 39 percent of votes, short of an absolute majority and therefore headed for a runoff on October 16.

He will face Martine Aubry, a one-time labor minister and daughter of former European Commission president Jacques Delors. She won 31 percent in the preliminary readout.

Opinion polls have predicted that Hollande, a witty if unexciting party veteran who has never been a government minister, would not only win the Socialist primary but would defeat Sarkozy by a comfortable margin if the two face off in the presidential battle next April.

That would make him the first Socialist leader in the Elysee Palace for 17 years.