2010 Piedmontese regional election
Introduction The '''2010 Piedmontese regional election''' took place on 28–29 March 2010 as part of Italy's round of regional elections. Mercedes Bresso of the centre-left Democratic Party, the incumbent president of the region, lost her seat to Roberto Cota, leader of the Northern League Piedmont (Lega Piemonte) and floor leader of Lega Nord (Northern League) in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, who was backed also by The People of Freedom.Cota's lead of Bresso was of only 0.4%, in one of the region's narrowest elections ever. The League thus secured a second region, after having conquered the presidency of Veneto with Luca Zaia with a much more convincing margin.
Electoral system Regional elections in Piedmont were ruled by the Tatarella law, which was approved in 1995 and provided for a mixed electoral system. Four fifths of the regional councilors were elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation, using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists, while the residual votes and the unassigned seats were grouped into a single regional constituency, where the whole ratios and the highest remainders were divided with the Hare quota among the provincial party lists; one fifth of the council seats instead was reserved for regional lists and assigned with a majoritarian representation system, in which the leader of the regional list that scored the highest number of votes was elected to the presidency of the region, while the other candidates were elected regional councilors.A threshold of 3% had been established for the provincial lists, which could still have entered the regional council if the regional list to which they were connected had scored at least 5% of valid votes. The ''panachage'' was also allowed; the voter can indicate a candidate for the presidency but prefer a provincial list connected to another candidate.
Background Bresso was one of the last bulwarks of the country's centre-left coalition in Central Italy and thus all Democratic Party members endorsed her in a key test of the coalition's strength after two years in opposition in Rome. For his part, Cota's choice was a little bit surprising as Piedmont is not really a stronghold for his party, which is much stronger in Veneto and Lombardy. The day after his bid was announced, Cota explained that it is time to rewrite the history of Italian unification, that was led by the Kingdom of Sardinia under the House of Savoy. Cota underlined that Piedmont was once an independent state and told that even Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, did not intend to unify the whole Italian Peninsula and later favoured a federal reform of the new Kingdom of Italy.Cota, who is a republican and has no nostalgia of the House of Savoy, said his message would do well in Piedmont and that he would overcome the weakness of Lega Piemonte that usually gets far fewer votes than Liga Veneta in Veneto and Lega Lombarda in Lombardy. In Cota's view, most of his support would come from industrial workers, including those of Southern Italy descent, and Catholics embarrassed by Bresso's secularism. The Union of the Centre, whose main aim in the election was to fight back the Northern League, chose to support Bresso, turning down the chance of running its own candidate, the most likely being Michele Vietti. Most Catholic voters disagreed.
Parties and candidates Political party or allianceConstituent listsPrevious resultCandidateVotes (%)Seats Centre-left coalition Democratic Party  30.4 17 Mercedes Bresso Federation of the Left   9.0 5 Union of the Centre  4.6 2 Together for Bresso 2.9 1 Federation of the Greens 2.8 1 Italian Socialist Party – United Socialists 2.4 1 Italy of Values  1.5 1 Left Ecology Freedom    Moderates    Bonino-Pannella List    Others    Centre-right coalition The People of Freedom  31.9 16 Roberto Cota Northern League Piedmont 8.5 4 Greens Greens  1.2 1 Consumers  1.1 1 Pensioners' Party  0.6 – Others   Five Star Movement   Davide Bono
Results + center Candidates Votes % Seats Parties Votes % Seats '''Roberto Cota'''1,043,31847.3312 The People of Freedom474,43125.0513 Northern League Piedmont317,06516.749 Greens Greens33,4111.761 Pensioners' Party27,7971.471 The Right12,5810.66– To the Centre with Scanderebech12,1540.64– Alliance of the Centre – Christian Democracy5,7040.30– New Italian Socialist Party3,9470.21– Consumers8,8260.15–''Total''''889,916''''46.98''''24'' '''Mercedes Bresso'''1,033,94646.911 Democratic Party439,66323.2112 Italy of Values130,6496.903 Union of the Centre74,4123.932 Together for Bresso61,4763.251 Moderates58,0103.061 Federation of the Left50,1912.651 Left Ecology Freedom27,1981.441 Federation of the Greens14,5750.77– Italian Socialist Party – United Socialists14,0770.74– Bonino-Pannella List13,5720.72– Pensioners and Disabled for Bresso12,5640.66– PiedmontYes – Populars – Autonomous Region4,1500.22–''Total''''900,537''''47.55''''21'' '''Davide Bono'''90,0864.09– Five Star Movement69,4483.672 '''Renzo Rabellino'''36,9991.68– List of Talking Crickets – No Euro13,1860.70– Lega Padana Piemont7,8050.41– Forza Toro3,4940.18– New Force2,1510.11– Tricolour Flame1,9980.11– UDEUR – Christian Democracy – Others1,6700.09– No Nuclear – No TAV1,5530.08– Alliance for Turin1,2370.07– Young People Under 301,0760.06–''Total''''34,170''''1.80''''–'' '''Total candidates''''''2,204,349''''''100.00''''''13''' '''Total parties''''''1,894,071''''''100.00''''''47'''Source:  Ministry of the Interior – Historical Archive of Elections
See also *2010 Italian regional elections
References