Florence, 8 June 2024 – Pencil in the hands of 288 thousand+ Florentines. It is up to them – at the end of a long, dense, sometimes frayed, and often very nervous electoral campaign – to choose who will sit for the next five years in the chicest armchair in Piazza Signoria, that of the Clement VII room in Palazzo Vecchio and who will instead occupy the seats of the popular assembly par excellence, the municipal council, Salone de’ Dugento.
We vote, new compared to the past, only on the weekend and that is today from 3pm to 11pm and tomorrow, from 7am to 11pm. A day and a half, as always, but this time spread over Saturday and Sunday (no longer Monday). That said, tension in the city can be cut with a knife – you need the good ones – and the scorching climate of the last few days, with poisoned darts rained down from one barricade to another and vice versa, has not helped to ease it.
Ten aspiring mayors which we will present again. With a premise: if none of them reach 50% + 1 of the consensus, we will have to resort to ballot in two weeks. In this case we will vote from 7am to 11pm on Sunday 23 June and from 7am to 3pm on Monday 24 June, the feast of San Giovanni.
From left clockwise the candidates for mayor of Florence: Funaro, Schmidt, Saccardi, Del Re, Zini, Marrazza, De Giuli, Asciuti, Masi, Palagi
The ten candidates
So in the running Sara Funaro , outgoing welfare councilor of the Nardella council, for the centre-left. In addition to the Democratic Party and the civic list Sara Funaro, mayor, she is supported in the race by the Alleanza Verdi Sinistra, Azione con Calenda, + Europa, Centro and Anima Firenze. In addition there is the support of Volt, Labor and the Republican Party. The center-right instead takes the civic side Eike Schmidt , former director of the Uffizi is currently on leave from Capodimonte. He has his own list – Eike Schmidt’s list, in fact – and the support of Fratelli d’Italia, Forza Italia and Lega. Running for Italia Viva, with the support of Libdem and Socialists (at the center with Saccardi the name of the coalition) is Stefania Saccardi , vice president of the Region. He runs with Democratic Florence Cecilia Del Re who left the Democratic Party in recent months to give life to her new political formation. Dmitrij Gabriellovic Palagi , former city councilor, is the mayoral candidate of Sinistra Progetto Comune and Firenze Environmentalista e Solidale. The 5 Star Movement fields another outgoing councilor of Palazzo Vecchio, Lorenzo Masi.
Here are the civics. Andrea Asciutiex Lega, with ‘Firenze Vera’. Francesca Marrazza presents itself with the ‘RiBella Firenze’ list. Then running Francesco Zini with Firenze Cambia e TOlessandro DeGiuli for Florence Reborn.
The five neighborhoods
Neighborhoods. We vote also for the five neighborhoods of the city. Here are the presidential candidates.
Q1 (Historic centre) for the centre-right Maria Cristina Paoli (FdI, Lega, Forza Italia); for the centre-left Mirco Rufilli (Avs, Anima Firenze, Pd, Azione, +Europa, Lista Funaro, Centro). Then Francesca Lupo (Left); Basilio Vavalà (RiBella Firenze), Titta Meucci (At the center with Saccardi); Stefano Di Puccio (Fd).
Q2 (Field of Mars): Michele Pierguidi (Centro, Pd, Lista Funaro, Anima Firenze, +Europa, Avs, Azione); Simone Sollazzo (Schmidt List, FdI, Lega, Forza Italia); Luca Salimbeni (RiBella Firenze); Lorenzo Palandri (Left); Serena Berti (Fd); Tommaso Cardini (In the center with Saccardi).
Q3 (Gavinana-Galluzzo) : Serena Perini (Avs, Anima Firenze, Pd, Azione, +Europa, Lista Funaro, Centro) Antonella Mor (RiBella Firenze); Roberto Visciola (Fd); Giampaolo Cherici (At the Center with Saccardi); Marco Ottonieri (Left); Giulio Razzanelli (FdI, Lega, Forza Italia, Schmidt List).
Q4 (Isolotto-Legnaia): Giulia Marmo (Left); Leonardo Batistini (Fdi; Lega, Forza Italia, Lista Schmidt; Massimiliano Piccioli (Fd); Cristiano Nesti (At the Center with Saccardi); Mirko Dormentoni (Avs, Anima Firenze, Pd, Azione, +Europa, Lista Funaro, Centro).
Q5 (Novoli): Filippo Ferraro (Avs, Anima Firenze, Pd, Azione, +Europa, Lista Funaro, Centro); Thomas Maerten (Left); Lara Arbo (Fd); Gualberto Carrara (Schmidt List, FdI, Lega, Forza Italia); Marco Ricci (At the Center with Saccardi); Lapo Laganà (RiBella Firenze)
