Mayors to be re-elected e Municipal councils to be renewed today and tomorrow in 29 Municipalities from the province of Lecce. All things considered, almost half (47%) of the entities voting throughout Puglia (62 Municipalities). And an army of 205,704 Salento residents are expected to vote in the 242 polling stations, open today from 3pm to 11pm and tomorrow from 7am to 11pm also in the province of Lecce, coinciding with the European elections. In total, there are 64 aspirants for the mayoral seat and over 1,700 candidates running for a seat in the municipal councils.
The challenge in Lecce
The electoral match will see the capital as the protagonist, first and foremost. Four are at the starting line for the mayoral race in Lecce: Carlo Salvemini for the centre-left, Adriana Poli Bortone for the centre-right and the two civic leaders, Agostino Ciucci and Alberto Siculella. The outgoing mayor Salvemini is attempting to run for the third consecutive mandate – after the victories of 2017 and 2019 – at the head of the progressive coalition led by the Democratic Party and the 5 Star Movement in which once again, after the experience of 2019, the civic component is central. In total, 9 lists were prepared for Salvemini and 286 candidates for the City Council. He will be challenged by Adriana Poli Bortone at the head of the centre-right with 10 lists and around 320 aspirants for a seat in the Council at Palazzo Carafa. The parties in the field for the former senator: Fratelli d’Italia, Lega and Forza Italia. And then the centrists of the UDC and the Salento Region Movement alongside the area civics. Challenging the candidates of the two traditional sides are two outsiders: Alberto Siculella, running with the “Mind” and “Aria” lists and Agostino Ciucci, mayoral candidate with “Rights and Civilizations for Lecce”.
The electoral round in the province
But the electoral match will be played in 28 other areas of the province which together have a population of over 131 thousand residents. In almost all cases these are municipalities with a population of less than 10 thousand inhabitants. With the exception of Copertino, the second voting reality in terms of number of inhabitants (over 23 thousand), where after the double mandate of Sandrina Schito, there was a four-way race between Antonio Leo, former vice-president of the Province of Lecce for the centre-left, Vincenzo De Giorgi, member of Forza Italia for the centre-right, the former mayor and again Giuseppe Rosafio and the former councillor, Laura Alemanno who can count among others on the support of the mayor of Nardò, Pippi Mellone with her Andare Oltre movement. Today and tomorrow the candidates for the seat will battle with 23 lists in the field and an army of 368 candidates for the City Council.
In Campi Salentina, the third municipality to vote by number of inhabitants (9,885 residents), the outgoing Alfredo Fina is aiming for an encore with a civic list that bears the signature of the regional councilor, Alessandro Delli Noci. Challenging him is the centre-right with Serena Assenzio. Even in Novoli there is a hunt for reconfirmation for the mayor of the Democratic Party Marco De Luca who will face another former mayor, Oscar Marzo Vetrugno.
The spotlight of the electoral campaign is also focused on Neviano which returns to the vote after the investigations which involved the Municipality and the commissioner phase. The ones competing for the slot will be Giuseppe Mighali, a member of the Democratic Party, and the former first citizen, Silvana Cafaro. In Parabita centre-left against centre-right and duel between the outgoing dem Stefano Prete and the former mayor Alfredo Cacciapaglia. In Cursi, however, the outgoing mayor of the Democratic Party, Antonio Melcore will have to deal with the exponent of Fratelli d’Italia, William Santoro at the head of an alternative civic party. In Martignano the former mayor Luigino Sergio challenges the opposition group leader, Antonio Orazio Corianò. Also on the list of outgoing mayors seeking reconfirmation is Giacomo Cazzato a Tiggiano. Challenging the winner of the April primaries is Silvia Martella. In Miggiano, however, the outgoing Michele Sperti will try to defend the wing against Santo Marzano. And again, in Muro Leccese the outgoing Antonio Lorenzo Donno is aiming for a third term against Laura Lubelli, opposition councillor. In Tuglie, however, the 5 Star Movement is betting on Lorenzo Longo against Silvia Romano who has taken up the baton of the outgoing and non-renominated mayor, Massimo Stamerra for the centre-right.
In Bagnolo del Salento Sonia Mariano will try to stop Irene Chilla’s bid for a fourth term. Silvano Macculi is also aiming for a fourth term in Botrugno: the outgoing mayor will have to deal with Gabriella Stefanelli. In Minervino di Lecce where the outgoing Ettore Caroppo will have to deal with Fredy Cursano and the former councilor Antonio Marte. In Palmariggi, however, Franco Zezza tries to win a third consecutive mandate against Luigi Bello.
Supersano is also voting, where Bruno Corrado and Bruno Contini are competing. In Lequile, however, there is a three-way race with Vincenzo Carlà, outgoing mayor who is aiming for reconfirmation against Fabio Lettere, former mayor from 2005 to 2008, and Antonio Filograna, former municipal councilor. In Andrano the outgoing Salvatore Musarò and Alessandro Panico will duel at the polls while in Carpignano Salentino the outgoing Mario Bruno Caputo will have to deal with Lucia Antonazzo. In Sternatia, Giuliano Villani takes on the field against Gabriele Cardito while in Surano there is a two-man challenge between Francesco Rizzo and Angelo Galati. In Zollino, Paolo Catalano, former opposition councilor, will challenge the outgoing Edoardo Calò and in Seclì it will be a two-horse race between Andrea Finamore and Ramona Fazio. In Soleto Graziano Vantaggiato is looking for reconfirmation against Gabriele Miceli while in A Castrì the former councilor Cosimo Pellè challenges the mayor Andrea De Pascali.
From Grecìa to Capo di Leuca, in Corsano there is a two-person challenge between the outgoing Biagio Raona and Gianfranco Riso while in Morciano di Leuca the outgoing mayor Lorenzo Ricchiuti has a solo race who will only have to deal with abstentionism. But even more so are the “blank” and “null” ballots, which if they reached 50% plus one, would hand the country over to the prefectural commissioner. Same unknown in Giuggianello with the outgoing and only re-candidate for mayor, Luca Benegiamo and in Morciano di Leuca where she ran alone for Lorenzo Ricchiuti.
