If the broad field at a national level now seems to have failed, the experiment at a local level could be a winner: with a wide field, sometimes very wide, in fact, the centre-left is set to take away two regional capitals from the centre-right. The latter is heading towards victory at the regionals in Piedmont. Victory which is nothing other than a confirmation – according to the exit polls, overwhelming – of the outgoing president Alberto Cirio. But if the result in Piedmont was rather expected – on the other side there was a divided centre-left – the outcome of the elections in the cities was, and is, less obvious.
The polls have just closed in 3,700 municipalities, six regional capitals and around twenty provincial capitals. The counting of the ballots will begin from 2pm on June 10th, but while waiting for the definitive data we can already see that in some important cities there may not be a need for the second round. Because the center-left has an abundant advantage. In order: the center-left could return to Palazzo Civico, a Cagliari, with Massimo Zedda. Already mayor of the capital of Sardinia from 2011 to 2019, he had left his seat to Paolo Truzzu (FdI) to attempt the lost race for governor. According to the exit polls of the Consorzio Opinio Italia, Massimo Zedda is well above the ballot threshold, in a range between 59 and 63%. She trails her namesake Alessandra Zedda, a centre-right candidate, by more than twenty points. The majority coalition pays for the bad administration of Truzzu, ‘guilty’ of having opened too many construction sites, paralyzing and upsetting the city. Zedda was the candidate of a broad centre-left coalition, modeled on Alessandra Todde: coming from Sel, Nichi Vendola’s party, he had already managed to strike an agreement with the Democratic Party in the previous union. In this electoral round his figure is confirmed as much loved. And the wide field in Sardinian sauce confirms itself as a winner. In the footsteps of Alessandra Todde, who won the elections a few months ago, making Sardinia move from a centre-right to a centre-left government.
But there is another wide, or rather very wide, field – also in this case moved further to the left than to the center – which could return to the centre-left a city which for ten years was governed by the centre-right: it is Perugia. In the Umbrian capital, the Anima Perugia project, represented by Vittoria Ferdinandi, is straddling the ballot threshold: between 49% and 53%, according to exit polls. If the count were to confirm the defeat of the centre-right candidate, Margherita Scoccia, this result would represent the victory of a very broad front, of an alliance of civic and centre-left projects, heterogeneous but – at least at the moment – cohesive. An alliance formed thanks to an outsider who was more left-wing than centre-right, just at the moment when the local centre-left seemed to be shattered. It should be noted, however, that while in Cagliari the victory is overwhelming, in Perugia the gap is just a few percentage points. This is a sign that the outgoing administration – of which Scoccia is an expression – has not left an excessively bad memory.
In Bergamo the centre-left seems confirmed. The exit polls give Elena Carnevali, a candidate in continuity with the outgoing Giorgio Gori, placed in a range between 53% and 57%. At the moment, his opponent Andrea Pezzotta is far behind, given between 39% and 43%. If the wide field is the winner in Cagliari and Perugia, a Bergamo good governance wins. That of a mayor, Gori, among the most beloved in Italy.
TO Florence it’s at Bari there will almost certainly be a runoff. The centre-left is given the advantage, which for years – since the Republic existed, in the case of Florence – has governed the two cities. In Bari, Vito Leccese, heir to Antonio Decaro, of whom he was head of cabinet, has the advantage. He will go to the runoff, if the exit polls are confirmed, with Fabio Romito, center-right candidate and moderate Northern League member. In Florence, however, there will be a run-off between the dem Sara Funaro, outgoing councillor, and the former director of the Uffizi, Eike Schimdt.
In view of the second round, in Bari the unknown is called Michele Laforgia – M5s and Si candidate, supported by various civic projects – which is given at 20%. In principle there would be an agreement for the alignment in the run-off, but the climate, ever since the cancellation of the primaries, has been that of the “knife brothers”. In Florence, however, the unknown is called Matteo Renzi. Italia Viva’s candidate – Stefania Saccardi, current vice-president of the Giani council – is given between 6 and 8%. All crucial votes for a possible victory. From the centre-left, as can be assumed, but also from the centre-right. In the city, in fact, there are those who are ready to bet that Renzi can simulate a rapprochement with the center-right to negotiate some departments with the center-left.
TO Power the center-right is ahead. The outgoing mayor, Mario Guarente of the League, renounced his candidacy. And his would-be centre-right successor, Francesco Fanelli, may be able to win in the first round. The range in which it is placed, in fact, is between 47.5% and 51.5%. The centre-left, with Vincenzo Telesca, is far behind and stands between 21 and 25%. Towards the victory of the center-right also a Campobasso. In this case, however, it would not be a reconfirmation because the outgoing administration is from the 5 Star Movement. In the first exit poll for the municipal elections in Campobasso, the centre-right candidate Aldo De Benedettis has a range of between 49-53%, followed by the centre-left candidate Marialuisa Forte with 31-35%.
Center-right ahead, and with the possibility of winning in the first round: the outgoing mayor Carlo Masci is placed in a range between 47.5% and 51.5. The center-left is more than ten points behind. Exit polls also available for Caltanissetta, where the outgoing mayor and the 5 stars: in this case the centre-right is ahead, with Walter Tesauro. In Sicily to win in the first round you just need to reach 40%.
If these data were to be confirmed, the center-left would continue to be in charge of important cities and would add others to the list. The centre-right, however, would snatch two cities from the five stars. And he would confirm himself where he governed while maintaining a certain consensus among the citizens.
