Tuscany returns to the vote today and Monday and, together with the run-off in Valle d’Aosta, closes the tranche of regions to the polls before election day in November. The next test will be on 23 and 24 November for Puglia, Veneto and Campania at the same time. Three million Tuscans will choose between Eugenio Giani, outgoing governor and frontman of a very large camp, and Alessandro Tomasi, mayor of Pistoia and Melonian. The first aims for an encore. The other hopes for a change in the polls. The elections represent a test for the “wide field” and its revenge, after the defeats in the Marche and Calabria, regions in which the center-right governors were reconfirmed. Giani managed to unite the entire progressive front, apart from the initial stomach aches of the 5 Stars and the failure of all the leaders to bless him on the same stage. Now the confirmation of the red stronghold is played. Or “the system of power”, as Giorgia Meloni called it with disdain.
For the centre-left, it would be the first point scored in the 2025 Regionals, in the hope that it will bring good results to other fiefdoms such as Puglia and Campania which have also bet on a broad front, while Veneto remains a mirage. In Tuscany the cross turnout for the separate vote will be decisive, as it is admitted here. In fact, it is not excluded that someone could “save” Giani but, on the same ballot, reward the opposing side for the Regional Council. Moreover, in the centre-right the hope, bold but heartfelt, is to be able to reach the 40% obtained by Altero Matteoli in 2000 and by Susanna Ceccardi in 2020. Five years ago the passionate Northern League member from Cascina stopped 8 percentage points behind Giani (48.62% in the first round). In addition to the hypothesis of a run-off after two weeks, Tuscany being the only region to foresee this in the event that no candidate reaches 40%. Remote possibility and the center-right knows it. Hence the tone of the “call to the polls” launched by the big names on Friday evening in Florence for Tomasi.
Starting from Meloni, convinced that history can be “made” because “nothing is written”. For the League it will be a double challenge, to test the so-called “vannaccization” of the party. The polls will show whether the choices made by Roberto Vannacci are valid in the lists he defined, as coordinator of the campaign in Tuscany. And how many more votes does the management of the general promoted to deputy secretary bring to the Northern League, which does not go down well with many local representatives. It is no coincidence that three left the party in three days, in controversy with the testimonial of the «World in reverse». A crack that could widen and risks undermining the very identity of the League. An issue that is very close to Luca Zaia’s heart. Especially after the exclusion of his name from the symbol of the League, in addition to its civic list. The current Venetian governor does not hide his resentment: “I note that I am a problem for someone: let’s try to make it real.” And on the future he adds: “I will decide what to do.” Veneto aside, for the majority the challenges in Campania and Puglia remain uphill. In the first region, the choice ultimately fell on Edmondo Cirielli of Fratelli d’Italia and deputy foreign minister, who promises “a different future” after the era of Vincenzo De Luca. But there were some distinctions among the allies. Antonio Tajani makes this clear when he admits: «Perhaps civic candidates were needed to gather consensus. But now the choices have been made we shared”, reveals the leader of Forza Italia. And remember that in Puglia the candidate is a citizen: Luigi Lobuono, entrepreneur and former president of Fiera del Levante. Having respected the day of electoral silence so far – apart from a few replies to the Prime Minister’s accusations that the left is “more extremist than Hamas” – the centre-left is preparing for the Assisi-Perugia peace march. There the “wide field” will be full and Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, at the center of controversy in recent weeks, will speak on stage.