Italy Municipal Elections: Meloni Coalition Wins Venice Mayoral Vote | Race To Power | WION

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]Now, the key win for the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government, the right-wing coalition has won the Venice mayoral election. Projections show the right-wing alliance had retained control of the most prominent city at stake in a round of local votes held across Italy.

[00:00:16]The polling, in fact, took place in more than 600 towns and cities in the first electoral test for the government since a major loss in a justice referendum in March.

[00:00:27]Now, this was a major setback for Giorgia Meloni that had marked her most significant reversal since taking charge in 2022.

[00:00:34]The latest projections showed that the center-right candidate, Simone Venturini, had won nearly 51% of the vote ahead of his main opponent's required when no candidate secures more than 50%.

[00:00:52]With a lead so large to close, polling agencies have officially projected Venturini as the winner of the Venice mayoral election.

[00:01:00]Now, Venice has been ruled by the right for a decade, even as it has faced some intense backlash recently over Russia's presence at the Biennale art festival.

[00:01:10]While early opinion polls this month predicted a major shift towards the center-left, the right-wing coalition has managed to completely defy expectations and also to hold the city.

[00:01:21]In Salerno, the center-left heavyweight Vincenzo De Luca won a fifth mayoral term.

[00:01:28]Meanwhile, the independent Federico Basile held onto the mayoral seat in Messina.

[00:01:33]The biggest shift came in Reggio Calabria, where the center-right successfully flipped a leftist stronghold that was held since 2014.

[00:01:43]And these local votes were amongst the last ones before next year's general election in Italy's two main political groups are now running neck and neck before the big 2027 race.

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