PARIS — Two women are vying to be the new face of Paris, the first time in this city’s long history that the mayor won’t be a monsieur.
The discreet, hard-working Socialist Anne Hidalgo is the favorite to win municipal elections that start Sunday, which would keep this leading tourist destination in leftist hands despite the deep unpopularity of President Francois Hollande’s Socialist national government.
‘‘A woman at the head of one of the most important cities of the world . . . will have of course a very, very important influence,’’ Hidalgo said.
It will also send an important message to leaders and voters in a country where women only got the vote at the end of World War II and where sexist attitudes persist toward women in power.
Hidalgo, 54, has experience on her side, after 13 years as the deputy to the outgoing mayor, Bertrand Delanoe. In recent polls, Hidalgo leads center-right opponent Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, a 40-year-old rising star of former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s party.
The race for Paris mayor — one of the most coveted jobs in French politics — is one of several thousand underway across the country. Municipal elections will be held in two rounds, March 23 and 30.
Both candidates in the capital pledge to improve security and transportation and to build more public housing in one of the most expensive cities of the world.
Kosciusko-Morizet, a former environment minister during Sarkozy’s presidency, was at first considered to have a real chance to win Paris. But her campaign has been compromised by dissent in her party.