MODENA. Someone has their aunt prepare the canapés for refreshments: they are better, and above all they are free, which is a great thing these days. Someone else tries to save on the printing: electoral “santini” cannot be missing, but today you can find excellent products online and at significantly lower costs. And then there are the electoral posters, which ultimately make an impact, even if today the campaign on social media has become fundamental, with “sponsored” and therefore paid pages. Because to get elected – and this applies both to those who aspire to become mayor and to those aiming for the city council – you need to have valid ideas and broad consensus, but you also have to… spend. The 16 lists running for the local elections on 8 and 9 June in Modena are well aware of this and obviously had to dig into their wallets to organize the electoral campaign.including events and aperitifs, flyers and posters, press officers and social sponsorships.
The numbers
But how much do Modena’s parties and other political forces spend on the electoral campaign? The numbers were put in black and white in recent days on the municipal notice board, where the political programs and budget estimates of the expenses of the 16 lists in the running were deposited. Before moving on to the numbers, two things must be clarified: that it is in fact a cost estimate, while the final balance, which will certainly be more substantial, will be published after the elections, and that the data concern the expenses taken into account by the lists, but which ignore the costs incurred by individual candidates for the City Council for their personal races (and here too, between an aperitif offered and a room to rent, the costs quickly add up). Well, the total expenditure budgeted by the 16 lists in support of the 7 candidates as mayor running for the Modena elections amounts to 188,803 euros. A significant figure, if we consider that for example in Ferrara, another capital municipality which will go to the vote on 8 and 9 June, spending is less than half that of Modena, stopping at 87 thousand euros: to make the comparison, however, we must take into account also the fact that in the city of Este there are 4 candidates for mayor compared to 7 in Modena, even if the overall number of lists is substantially identical, 15 against 16.
Who spends the most
Having said the overall figure, which is the list that has put its hand into its wallet without too many hesitations and which is the one that has implemented a spending review of the electoral campaign? Starting from who spent the most – always talking about budget estimates, i.e. expenses taken into account – the queen of the campaign is undoubtedly the “Modena X Modena” civic list, which supports the professor’s candidacy for mayor Maria Grazia Modena: with a cost of 36,100 euros, the list clearly stands out from all the others. In second place is the Democratic Party, which has budgeted for a cost of 25,500 euros for the campaign. Wanting to resume the comparison with Ferrara, in that case the Dems spent more – 28,500 euros – even if it must be said that in the city of Este the Democratic Party, which today is in opposition, must play on the attack, while in Modena it must above all “stick up for”. Remaining in the centre-left coalition, which supports the candidacy for mayor of Massimo Mezzetti, the Modena Civica list took into account a cost of 19 thousand euros, gaining fourth place among the most “spendable” lists. After an… aperitif, there is the Avs list, i.e. the force born from the union between the Greens and the Left, always in the centre-left coalition: in this case the budgeted expenditure is 17,669 euros. Remaining in the coalition that supports Mezzetti, the Piazza Futura list, led by Chiara Giovenzana, has taken into account an expenditure of 15 thousand euros, followed by Azione (13 thousand), and by Uniti per Modena (7 thousand), while spending decidedly little is the M5S, which stops at 2,300 euros.
The centre-right
And the center-right coalition it supports Luca Negrini? The one who spends the most is the driving party, i.e. Brothers of Italy, which with 20 thousand euros budgeted is in third place overall among the most “spendable” lists. The expenses of the other coalition forces are decidedly lower cost: the Negrini mayoral list spends 6 thousand euros, while the League stops at a thousand, and Forza Italia even at 900 euros, earning the prize for the lowest cost campaign of all.
The other lists
Moving on to the other civic lists, the Modena Volta Pagina list spends the most, which together with Possibile and UnionePopolare supports the candidacy for mayor of Claudio Tonelli: in this case the estimated cost is 11,500 euros. Behind it is Modena Cambia, which supports the candidacy of Daniele Giovanardi, who will spend 9,900 euros. The Movimento 3 V campaigns are decidedly low cost (Marco Meschiari) and We Breathe Clean Air (Chiara Costetti), with 1,984 and 1,950 euros.
