Paris, April 24 (RHC)-- In France, former investment banker Emmanuel Macron and far-right politician Marine Le Pen are headed for a runoff, after the first round of voting in the French presidential elections Sunday. 

Macron came in first place in Sunday’s vote, with Marine Le Pen in a close second.  The results were a stunning rebuke of France’s established parties, marking the first time in six decades that neither of France’s two main parties advanced a candidate to the second round. 

On Sunday, Marine Le Pen, who has campaigned on an openly xenophobic and racist platform, claimed the "survival of France" is at stake in the May 7 runoff.  Meanwhile, front-runner Emmanuel Macron urged voters to support him against the "threat of nationalists."