Polls closed at 3:00 PM in nearly 750 Italian municipalities, 18 of which were provincial capitals, where local elections were held . At the same time, ballot counting began at all polling stations.
The final turnout was 60.06% , down almost five percentage points from the previous election (64.9%). The region with the highest turnout was Umbria, with over 70.7% , while Molise recorded the lowest turnout (47.7%) .
THE RESULTS – The center-right conquers Reggio Calabria with Francesco Cannizzaro in the first round (71.52% of the vote), after 12 years of center-left leadership with Giuseppe Falcomatà. It also holds Venice with Simone Venturini (52.89%), the thirty-eight-year-old Catholic child prodigy and scout, former councilor of Brugnaro, despite the center-left's assault and Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein's declared goal of reconquering the city. "And even today, we're postponing the much-heralded collapse of the center-right until tomorrow ," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni quipped on social media. "The center-right is advancing, the League is confirming and winning mayors across Italy," exulted Matteo Salvini.
SALERNO – Vincenzo De Luca also won a landslide victory in the first round , serving as mayor of Salerno for the fifth time thanks to seven civic lists and without the Democratic Party symbol. "I sincerely thank all our candidates for their passionate commitment in a difficult battle," he said. "Starting tomorrow, we will be working tirelessly for our community, concretely."
De Luca trionfa a Salerno: «Ora al lavoro senza respiro»
TUSCANY – The center-left has once again won without a runoff in several municipalities in the now formerly red Tuscany. Democratic Party candidate Matteo Biffoni has won the mayoral election of Prato for the third time, thanks in part to the excellent results of his civic list. Pistoia, Cascina, Sesto Fiorentino, Incisa, and Figline Valdarno (a Renzi stronghold where David Ermini ran against his former mentor Matteo Renzi) also won. Center-left civic candidate Giovanni Capecchi also won mayor in the first round, reclaiming Pistoia after nine years. All cities were thoroughly defeated by Democratic Party secretary Schlein and the broad-based party leaders. "United we win," the Tuscan Democratic Party exults. The centrist tide is only barely visible in a few elections, such as Arezzo , where a runoff election is taking place, with civic lists and Marco Donati's Azione party holding 20 percent of the vote .
Arezzo al ballottaggio, pesa il risultato centrista
MESSINA FIEFdom – The city of Messina remains a fiefdom of Cateno De Luca , of 'South calls North', with the landslide victory of his heir and outgoing mayor Federico Basile.
VANNACCI'S EXPLOIT – In what could be the final electoral test before the general election, the performances of the new formations are also significant. Roberto Vannacci's success came close to wresting the Lega stronghold of Vigevano from Salvini's League , the only municipality where his National Front has deployed.
The map of runoff elections and new mayors in municipalities depicts a complex voting flow, often influenced by the presence of civic lists and local specificities. Municipalities where the mayor was not elected in the first round will return to the runoff elections on June 7th and 8th.
(Unioneonline)