Toscana we're ready to vote. But the accounts, in the Democratic Party, will be made at the end of November, when the electoral round dedicated to Regional 2025 will end with the renewal of the governors of Puglia, Campania and Veneto. For now, having already suffered the double defeat in the Brands and Calabria where the lists of FdI and Forza Italia have been rewarded by the numbers and the reconfirmation of their candidates, the eyes of the centre-left (and the expectations of the centre-right) are focused on Tuscany, a land historically of red tradition: the 12 13 and October More than 3 million voters are called to the polls for the renewal of the Regional Council and the governor. To challenge Eugenio Giani, outgoing president and candidate of the wide field strongly supported by Matteo Renzi, he is the mayor of Pistoia Alexander Tomasi in the center-right quota. Also in the running Antonella Bundu for Toscana Rossa.
Tuscany Regional Elections: A Wide Field and Divided Squares
Was this a foregone conclusion? It is a mistake to rest on the laurels of a victory already achieved, as was widely reiterated by the regional secretariat of the Pd, the worst opponent of the centre-left "is not the right but theabstentionism, with people who are disappointed, distant from politics and no longer believe in it."
The continues internal divisions in the broad field, despite the subsequent thaw tests, certainly do not help the cause. And neither do they “stew” of the squares. The last few hours have been dominated by the many electoral initiatives, each independent of the other, organized by the political forces supporting Giani to close the campaign: individual rallies, even concomitant, have forced the president to run from one point of the territory to another – as many as 11 different places, he said – to be present on the stage of each one and close, without forgetting anyone, this electoral tour.
It may be true, as the governor himself wanted to underline, that "we are 4 ships", like 4 lists, "that go fishing for consensus as much as possible" and that in the end what counts is the "figure of synthesis", capable of "mediating" between the various souls of the coalition "with shrewdness, resilience and reformism of action", but on Thursday the news of Giani's exclusion from the Florentine stage organised by the M5S - with Giuseppe Conte protagonist – had created particular irritation among Tuscan Democrats (and not only). To prevent the controversy from flaring up, the mediation of the leader of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, made it possible to find a halfway agreement: Giani and Conte shook hands Not from the Five Star Movement stage in Florence, but during an event in Scandicci. What's more, Giani even announced—without saying so— in words but leaving it understood – the future entry of the Five Star Movement into the regional government that will come. Conte, for his part, declared that he is "fully committed to the coalition." A thaw, as we were saying.
Tuscany Regional Elections: The Center-Right Takes a Shot
As a counterpoint, the now customary and studied compactness image of the centre-right and he is chasing his first time in Tuscany in the belief – or simple hope as it may be – that the flow of votes coming from the centre can reward him (thanks to some changes of allegiance from Iv to FI which have taken place in the last few hours) and which he provocatively returns to ask Conte: "But on theairport” of Florence, “on thehigh speed and also on theincinerator Is the broad field united or divided? And turning to Giani, accusing him of letting Conte dictate his line: “Are you really convinced that you want to sign a pact to reintroduce the Basic income“, the 5 Star Movement's flagship?
The pre-election back and forth heats up while at the final rally for Tomasi, in Florence, the ritual iconography materializes with Giorgia Meloni, Antonio Tajani e Matteo Salvini plastically united (despite the layered tensions between the Prime Minister and the leader of the League): "We are a political alliance, we are not an electoral coalition", insists the Foreign Minister while protests against the Government organised by Pro Pal, Usb and Potere al Popolo rise up in the streets of the city on the day in which Israel signs truce in Gaza after more than 730 days of war. Meloni's response (invited next Monday to Egypt for the peace signing ceremony) comes immediately with a comparison that becomes a headline for the media: "The Italian left is more fundamentalist than HamasThey don't make peace Maurizio Landini, Francesca Albanese o Greta Thunberg".
Regional Elections 2025: Focus on Veneto, Puglia, and Campania
In the background, the next – and ultimately decisive – episode of this electoral challenge is already looming: the triple match at the end of November, capable of delineating the contours and substance of winners and losers. In this regard, an agreement has been reached within the center-right on the names of the candidates. Puglia (the entrepreneur and civic Luigi Lobuono), Campania (the melonian Edmund Cirielli) to Veneto (the Northern League member Alberto Stefani). Agreement also between Salvini and Meloni, a sort of necessary postscript on 2028, as regards the Lombardia today governed by the Northern League's Attilio Fontana, with FdI which the presidential candidate will be able to claim if he demonstrates that he has greater electoral weight in the region (and an infuriated League base).
Tuscany Regional Elections: Democratic Party Accounts Revealed at the End of November
How will it end? By repeatedly using the slogan "let's make a revolution", in Tuscany the centre-right aims to equal the 40 % obtained by Altero Matteoli in 2000 and Susanna Ceccardi in 2020. In the centre-left, however, on Thursday evening it was the turn of the Democratic president, Stefano Bonaccini, to outline a defense of Schlein in response to those who get agitated and insist on the calculation of "games won or lost": the accounts, he reiterated, will be done end of November"I'm not Otelma, but I have the impression that when we do the math, from one year to the next, we'll find ourselves with more regions governed by the center-left in a single year, exceeding the starting point in terms of profitability. Of course, Tuscany has a responsibility: it could spark a rematch, a resurgence in this final round of four regions voting."
Tuscany Regional Elections: When to Vote. There's also a runoff.
What is certain is that there will be a vote Sunday, October 12th from 7am to 23pm e Monday, October 13th from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm. The possible turn of ballot, if no candidate exceeds the threshold of 40% of the votes, a general election will be held Sunday 26nd and Monday 27rd October, again with two days of voting. Tuscany's electoral law stipulates that the candidate who receives more than 40% of the vote is elected president without a runoff. Split voting is also permitted, meaning the possibility of voting for one candidate and an unrelated list. The Regional Council is also elected using the same ballot.
Tuscany Regional Elections: The Unknown Abstention
What weighs, however, is the unknown of voter participationSince 1970, the year the Regions were established, voter turnout in the regional elections has dropped from 95,9% to 48,28% in the 2015 elections, the lowest ever and the first time with less than half the voters, before rising to 62,6% in the 2020 election. This is a topic that the outgoing governor has reflected on, prompting Salvini to say on Friday evening: "If half the Florentines and Pisans in Tuscany stay home, the hard core of the left will count for more."
Electoral reform: what Meloni & co. are aiming for.
In the background, comparisons continue on the Electoral law. FdI pushes for theabolition of colleges, because "they increase the risk of instability, whoever wins." It seems that the League has also been convinced of this solution. The aim is for a dry proportional, Tajani explained to his followers. One objective is the return of the preferences, even if there are those who push to have it at least the top candidate is blocked, and there is discussion about barrier threshold (1% or 3%). The only certainty is that the name of the prime ministerial candidate will be indicated on the ballot paper. In fact, a prime minister, awaiting a constitutional reform that is proceeding very slowly.
