Nicolas Daragon

Nicolas Daragon, born March 12, 1972, in Valence, Drôme, is a French politician. A member of the Les Républicains party, he has been Mayor of Valence since 2014 and Vice President of the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes since 2016.

Biography

Nicolas Daragon holds a master's degree in public law and graduated from HEC Paris Business School. He is also a business executive in the tourism sector.

In 1995, Nicolas Daragon was elected municipal councillor of Valence on the list of deputy mayor Patrick Labaune. Six years later, during the 2001 municipal elections, he was re-elected municipal councillor and became deputy mayor.

In 2008, the list led by Patrick Labaune in Valence was defeated by the socialist Alain Maurice. Nicolas Daragon, however, was re-elected as a municipal councillor and led the municipal opposition, as both Patrick Labaune, the lead candidate, and Léna Balsan, the outgoing mayor, chose not to sit on the municipal council.

During the 2014 municipal elections, Nicolas Daragon led the centre-right coalition list in Valence, which won in the second round with 53.5% of the votes against the left-wing list led by the outgoing mayor and a National Rally list.

Running for a new term at the head of a right-wing list during the 2020 municipal elections, he won in the first round on March 15, obtaining 59.5% of the votes. He was re-elected mayor of Valence on May 23, 2020. Shortly thereafter, as the only candidate, he was also re-elected president of the Valence Romans Agglo urban community.

During the 2021 regional elections in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, he led the civil society list of Les Républicains-UDI for the Drôme department. Following the victory of this list at the regional level, Nicolas Daragon became Vice President of the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, responsible for finance, general administration, human resources, and European funds.