Italian regional elections, 2010

Italian regional elections, 2010

2005 ← March 29, 2010 → 2015

Presidents and regional assemblies of Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Marche, Umbria, Lazio, Campania, Apulia, Basilicata and Calabria

Elected Presidents:   Democratic Party   The People of Freedom   Lega Nord   Left Ecology Freedom   Movement for Autonomies

A big round of regional elections in Italy took place on 28–29 March in 13 regions out of 20, including nine of the ten largest ones: Lombardy, Campania, Veneto, Lazio, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Apulia, Tuscany and Calabria. The centre-right alliance composed of The People of Freedom and Lega Nord prevailed over the centre-left led by the Democratic Party by winning in Lombardy, Campania, Veneto, Lazio, Piedmont and Calabria.

Overview

As usual the elections turned out as a big competition between two rival coalitions built around the two major parties: The People of Freedom (PdL) of Silvio Berlusconi and the Democratic Party (PD) led by Pier Luigi Bersani. The third largest party in Italy, Lega Nord (whose main regional sections, Liga Veneta, Lega Lombarda and Lega Piemont play a big role in Veneto, Lombardy and Piedmont, respectively) supported joint candidates with the PdL in Northern and Central Italy, while the PD ran in coalition with Italy of Values in most regions. The Union of the Centre formed alliances either with the PdL and the PD, depending on the regions. Minor parties of the left and the right took part to the coalitions accordingly to their political position.

During the campaign, four regions seemed safe for the PdL and its allies (Lombardy, Veneto, Campania and Calabria), while the PD was sure to win in five regions (Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Marche, Umbria and Basilicata). Four regions (Piedmont, Lazio, Apulia and Liguria) were up for grabs.^{[citation needed]} Berlusconi campaigned hard especially in Lazio, while the centre-left put all its bets on Piedmont.^{[citation needed]}

The centre-right went to win the elections by gaining four more regions than in 2005: Campania, Lazio, Piedmont and Calabria. The centre-left, for its part, won seven regions out of 13, but those won by the centre-right were bigger. Roberto Cota, leader of Lega Nord Piemont, won narrowly in Piedmont in what was the closest battle, while Renata Polverini, despite some legal issues that left the PdL without a list in the Province of Rome, won in Lazio. The centre-left was able to hold Liguria and Apulia, where the left-wing outgoing President Nichi Vendola was re-elected thanks to the presence of a third-party candidate who divided the centre-right vote.

Lega Nord played a big role in the North, where it was the second-largest party and the largest in Veneto. The party led by Umberto Bossi managed to have two of its leading members elected at the head of a region: Cota in Piedmont and Luca Zaia in Veneto, where he brought the party to an unprecedented 35.2% of the vote.

Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement, a protest party popular among disillusioned left-wingers,^{[citation needed]} had a strong showing in Emilia-Romagna, where it drew many votes from the PD, and Piedmont, where it delivered the victory to Cota.

Outgoing Presidents

In the 2005 regional elections 12 regions out of 14 went to the centre-left. In Abruzzo there was an early election in 2008 after the abrupt resignation of Ottaviano Del Turco (PD), who was replaced by Giovanni Chiodi (PdL).

Region	Incumbent	Party	2005 election	2010 election
Piedmont	Mercedes Bresso	Democratic Party	50.9% – Enzo Ghigo (CdL) 47.1%	Seeking a 2nd consecutive term
Lombardy	Roberto Formigoni	The People of Freedom	53.9% – Riccardo Sarfatti (Ulivo) 43.2%	Seeking a 4th consecutive term
Veneto	Giancarlo Galan	The People of Freedom	50.6% – Massimo Carraro (Ulivo) 42.4%	Retiring after three consecutive terms
Liguria	Claudio Burlando	Democratic Party	52.6% – Sandro Biasotti (CdL) 46.6%	Seeking a 2nd consecutive term
Emilia-Romagna	Vasco Errani	Democratic Party	62.7% – Carlo Monaco (CdL) 35.2%	Seeking a 3rd full consecutive term
Tuscany	Claudio Martini	Democratic Party	57.4% – Alessandro Antichi (CdL) 32.8%	Retiring after two consecutive terms
Marche	Gian Mario Spacca	Democratic Party	57.8% – Francesco Massi (CdL) 38.5%	Seeking a 2nd consecutive term
Umbria	Maria Rita Lorenzetti	Democratic Party	63.0% – Pietro Laffranco (CdL) 33.7%	Seeking a 3rd consecutive term
Lazio	Piero Marrazzo	Democratic Party	50.7% – Francesco Storace (CdL) 47.4%	Resigned prior the end of the term
Campania	Antonio Bassolino	Democratic Party	61.6% – Italo Bocchino (CdL) 34.4%	Retiring after two consecutive terms
Apulia	Nichi Vendola	Left Ecology Freedom	49.8% – Raffaele Fitto (CdL) 49.2%	Seeking a 2nd consecutive term
Basilicata	Vito De Filippo	Democratic Party	67.0% – Cosimo Latronico (CdL) 28.8%	Seeking a 2nd consecutive term
Calabria	Agazio Loiero	Democratic Party	59.0% – Sergio Abramo (CdL) 39.7%	Seeking a 2nd consecutive term

Regional results

Summary of results

Region	Centre-right	Centre-left	Others
Piedmont	Roberto Cota (LN–P) 47.3%	Mercedes Bresso 46.9%	Davide Bono (Five Star Movement) 4.1% Renzo Rabellino (Lega Padana Piemont) 1.7%
Lombardy	Roberto Formigoni 56.1%	Filippo Penati 33.3%	Savino Pezzotta (Union of the Centre) 4.7% Vito Crimi (Five Star Movement) 3.0% Vittorio Agnoletto (Communist Refoundation Party) 2.4% Gian Mario Invernizzi (New Force) 0.6%
Veneto	Luca Zaia (LV–LN) 60.2%	Giuseppe Bortolussi 29.1%	Antonio De Poli (Union of the Centre) 6.4% David Borrelli (Five Star Movement) 3.2% Silvano Polo (Party of the Venetians) 0.5% Paolo Caratossidis (New Force) 0.4% Gianluca Panto (Venetian National Party) 0.4%
Liguria	Sandro Biasotti 47.9%	Claudio Burlando 52.1%
Emilia-Romagna	Anna Maria Bernini 36.7%	Vasco Errani 52.1%	David Borrelli (Five Star Movement) 7.0% Gian Luca Galletti (Union of the Centre) 4.2%
Tuscany	Monica Faenzi 34.4%	Enrico Rossi 59.7%	Francesco Bosi (Union of the Centre) 4.8% Alfonso De Virgiliis (Italian Radicals) 0.8% Ilario Palmisani (New Force) 0.6%
Marche	Emilio Marinelli 39.7%	Gian Mario Spacca 53.2%	Massimo Rossi (Communist Refoundation Party) 7.1%
Umbria	Fiammetta Modena 37.7%	Catiuscia Marini 57.2%	Paola Binetti (Union of the Centre) 5.1%
Lazio	Renata Polverini 51.1%	Emma Bonino (Rad) 48.3%	Marzia Marzioli (Network of Citizens) 0.5%
Campania	Stefano Caldoro 54.3%	Vincenzo De Luca 43.0%	Paolo Ferrero (Communist Refoundation Party) 1.4% Roberto Fico (Five Star Movement) 1.3%
Apulia	Rocco Palese 42.3%	Nichi Vendola (SEL) 48.7%	Adriana Poli Bortone (I South – Union of the Centre) 8.7% Michele Rizzi (Communist Alternative Party) 0.4%
Basilicata	Nicola Pagliuca 27.9%	Vito De Filippo 60.8%	Magdi Allam (I Love Italy) 8.7% Marco Toscano (Movement against Indifference) 1.5% Florenzo Doino (Workers' Communist Party) 1.1%
Calabria	Giuseppe Scopelliti 57.8%	Agazio Loiero 32.2%	Pippo Callipo (Italy of Values) 10.0%
Centre-right included The People of Freedom, Lega Nord, and The Right, unless otherwise noted. Centre-left included Democratic Party, Italy of Values, and Left Ecology Freedom, unless otherwise noted. Candidates were from main coalition party (The People of Freedom or Democratic Party), unless otherwise noted. ^✝ These candidates were supported by the Union of the Centre party.

Sources: Ministry of the Interior – Historical Archive of Elections, Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica

Winner and runner-up by region

Piedmont
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Lega Nord	Roberto Cota	1,043,318	47.3	+0.2
	Democratic Party	Mercedes Bresso	1,033,946	46.9	–4.0

Lombardy
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	The People of Freedom	Roberto Formigoni	2,704,057	56.1	+2.7
	Democratic Party	Filippo Penati	1,603,674	33.3	–10.3

Veneto
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Lega Nord	Luca Zaia	1,528,386	60.2	+9.7
	Democratic Party	Giuseppe Bortolussi	738,716	29.1	–13.3

Liguria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Party	Claudio Burlando	424,044	52.1	–0.5
	The People of Freedom	Sandro Biasotti	389,132	47.9	+1.3

Emilia-Romagna
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Party	Vasco Errani	1,197,789	52.1	–10.6
	The People of Freedom	Anna Maria Bernini	844,915	36.7	+1.5

Tuscany
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Party	Enrico Rossi	1,055,715	59.7	+2.3
	The People of Freedom	Monica Faenzi	608.680	34.4	+2.2

Umbria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Party	Catiuscia Marini	257.408	57.2	–5.8
	The People of Freedom	Fiammetta Modena	169,568	37.7	+4.1

Marche
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Party	Gian Mario Spacca	409,823	53.2	–4.5
	The People of Freedom	Erminnio Marinelli	306,076	39.7	+1.1

Lazio
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	The People of Freedom	Renata Polverini	1,409,028	51.1	+3.7
	Radical Party	Emma Bonino	1,331,335	48.2	–2.5

Campania
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	The People of Freedom	Stefano Caldoro	1,586,567	54.3	+19.9
	Democratic Party	Vincenzo De Luca	1,258,715	43.0	–18.6

Basilicata
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Party	Vito De Filippo	202,980	60.8	–6.2
	The People of Freedom	Nicola Pagliuca	93,204	27.9	–0.9

Apulia
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Left Ecology Freedom	Nichi Vendola	1,036,638	48.7	–1.1
	The People of Freedom	Rocco Palese	899,590	42.3	–6.9

Calabria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	The People of Freedom	Giuseppe Scopelliti	614,584	57.8	+8.1
	Democratic Party	Agazio Loiero	342,773	32.2	–26.8

External links

• Sondaggi politico elettorali – opinion polls
• Il Clandestino – analysis and opinion polls
• Scenari politici – analysis and opinion polls