2021 Turin municipal election

2021 Turin municipal election

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Turnout	331,566 ·48.08% ( 9.10 pp) 290,632 ·42.14% ( 12.27 pp)
First party Second party   Candidate Stefano Lo Russo Paolo Damilano Party Democratic Party Independent Alliance Centre-left Centre-right Last election 41.83% 45.44% 18.76% (separately) N/A Seats before 11 4 Seats won 24 13 Seat change 13 9 Popular vote 140,200 168,997 124,347 116,322 Percentage 43.86% 59.23% 38.90% 40.77% Swing 2.03 pp 13.79 pp 20.14 pp N/A
Mayor before election Chiara Appendino M5S Elected mayor Stefano Lo Russo PD

Municipal elections were held in Turin, Piedmont, on 3 and 4 October 2021 to elect the mayor of Turin and the 38 members of the City Council of Turin. Originally scheduled for June 2021, the election was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. Since no mayoral candidate won a majority of votes on the first round, where the centre-left coalition candidate Stefano Lo Russo (a member of the Catholic wing of the Democratic Party) narrowly finished first against most opinion polling, a runoff election was held on 17 and 18 October 2021. ^[1] The second round was won in a landslide by Lo Russo, who outperformed the polls and was officially inaugurated as the new mayor of Turin on 27 October 2021. ^{[2] [3]} Chiara Appendino of the Five Star Movement, who was the incumbent mayor of Turin, did not run for re-election. ^[4]

Background

Electoral system

The voting system for the office of mayor of Turin is used for all mayoral elections in Italy in the cities with a population higher than 15,000 inhabitants. Under this system, voters express a direct choice for the mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives 50% of votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. The winning candidate obtains a majority bonus equal to 60% of seats. During the first round, if no candidate gets more than 50% of votes but a coalition of lists gets the majority of 50% of votes, or if the mayor is elected in the first round but its coalition gets less than 40% of the valid votes, the majority bonus cannot be assigned to the coalition of the winning mayor candidate. ^[5] The election of the City Council of Turin is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a maximum of two preferential votes, each for a different gender, belonging to the same party list; the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally, using the D'Hondt method for seat allocation. Only coalitions with more than 3% of votes are eligible to get any seats. ^[5]

Centre-left coalition primary election

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Stefano Lo Russo	Democratic Party	4.229	37,5%	[6]
	Francesco Tresso	Independent	3.932	34,9%	[7]
	Enzo Lavolta	Democratic Party	2.864	25,4%	[8]
	Igor Boni	More Europe	257	2,3%	[9]
Total			11.325	100

Political parties and candidates

List of the political parties and candidates that took part in the election ^[10]

Political force or alliance		Constituent lists		Candidate
	Centre-right coalition		League	Paolo Damilano
			Brothers of Italy
			Forza Italia (UDC, PLI, PU, DC)
			Beautiful Turin
			Progress Turin
			Yes TAV Yes Work – Renaissance
			The People of the Family
	Centre-left coalition		Democratic Party	Stefano Lo Russo
			Lo Russo for Mayor (DemoS, CD, IV, A, +E, RI, Volt, Monviso Civic List, Alliance for Turin)
			Ecologist Left (SI, Pos)
			Moderates
			Turin Tomorrow
			Art. 1 – PSI
	Sganga coalition		Five Star Movement	Valentina Sganga
			Green Europe
	D'Orsi coalition		Common Left (PRC, SA, DemA)	Angelo D'Orsi
			Italian Communist Party
			Power to the People
	Di Cristina coalition		Communist Party	Giusi Greta Di Cristina
			Turin Future City
	Futura for the Common Goods			Ugo Mattei
	Workers' Communist Party			Massimo Chiesi
	3V Movement			Paolo Alonge
	Turin Environmental Movement (4 October Movement)			Roberto Salerno
	Prohibition to Dismiss			Lorenzo Varaldo
	Turin Capital of Europe – Stop ISEE			Emilio Mazza
	Verra coalition		Italexit	Ivano Verra
			We Citizens
	Balducci coalition		Gay Party	Davide Betti Balducci
			Animalist Party

Declined candidates

Withdrew

Centre-left coalition

• Mauro Salizzoni, medic and regional councilor of Piedmont (since 2019). ^[11]

Declined

Centre-left coalition

• Sergio Chiamparino, former president of Piedmont (2014–2019) and mayor of Turin (2001–2011). ^[12]
• Guido Saracco, rector of the Polytechnic University of Turin since 2018. ^[13]

Five Star Movement

• Chiara Appendino, mayor of Turin since 2016. ^[14]

Opinion polls

First round

Date	Polling firm	Sample size	Sganga	Lo Russo	Damilano	Others	Undecided	Lead
4 October 2021	Election result	—	9.0	43.9	38.9	8.2	—	5.0
12–15 Sep 2021	Noto	1,000	9.0	40.0	42.0	9.0	29.0	2.0
9–15 Sep 2021	SWG	1,000	9.0	42.0	42.0	7.0	21.0	Tie
6–11 Sep 2021	Ipsos	1,000	9.5	39.0	42.0	9.5	27.0	3.0
7–10 Sep 2021	Quorum	805	8.6	42.8	43.7	4.9	43.2	0.9
3–8 Sep 2021	Quorum	808	8.3	41.4	44.2	6.1	39.6	2.8
27–29 Aug 2021	BiDiMedia	809	11.1	38.9	41.6	8.4	23.0	2.7
3–5 Aug 2021	Demopolis	1,804	13.0	34.0	41.0	12.0	37.0	7.0
29 Jun–12 Jul 2021	SWG	1,600	8.0	43.0	44.0	5.0	22.0	1.0
25 Jun 2021	Euromedia Research	1,000	11.9	39.6	43.7	4.8	—N/a	4.1
10–15 May 2021	BiDiMedia	1,337	12.6	38.2	40.1	9.1	30.0	1.9

Second round

Damilano vs. Lo Russo

Date	Polling firm	Sample size	Damilano	Lo Russo	Abstain	Lead
4 October 2021	Election result	—	40.7	59.2	—	18.5
9–15 Sep 2021	SWG	1,000	48.0	52.0	—N/a	4.0
6–11 Sep 2021	Ipsos	1,000	48.0	52.0	—N/a	4.0
7–10 Sep 2021	Quorum	805	47.4	52.6	44.9	5.2
3–8 Sep 2021	Quorum	808	46.9	53.1	47.8	6.2
27–29 Aug 2021	BiDiMedia	809	48.0	52.0	—N/a	4.0
16 Jul 2021	SWG	1,600	48.0	52.0	—N/a	4.0
25 Jun 2021	Euromedia Research	1,000	50.2	49.8	37.3	0.4
10–15 May 2021	BiDiMedia	1,337	47.0	53.0	—N/a	6.0

Political parties

Date	Polling firm	Sample size	Centre-left								Centre-right						M5S–EV		Others	Lead
			PD	A	IV	+E	Volt	Mod	SI	Others	FdI	LSP	BT	FI	C!	Others	M5S	EV
4 October 2021	Election result	—	28.6	5.0				3.4	3.6	3.5	10.5	9.8	11.9	5.3	1.6		8.0	0.9	8.0	18.1
9–15 Sep 2021	SWG	1,000	25.9	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	3.8	3.2	8.3	10.7	19.4	2.1	8.3	—N/a	1.5	7.6	1.6	7.6	6.5
6–11 Sep 2021	Ipsos	1,000	31.2	4.6				1.5	—N/a	1.5	9.5	20.0	2.5	9.2	—N/a	1.8	8.9	1.0	8.3	11.2
3–8 Sep 2021	Quorum	808	32.3	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	8.2	14.7	19.4	—N/a	4.2	—N/a	4.8	7.4	1.4	7.6	12.9
27–29 Aug 2021	BiDiMedia	809	26.5	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	3.4	3.4	6.3	15.8	13.4	4.5	3.7	1.5	1.9	9.2	2.2	8.2	10.7
29 Jun–12 Jul 2021	SWG	1,600	30.5	1.5	1.5	—N/a	—N/a	3.0	2.0	5.5	11.0	21.5	2.5	8.0	—N/a	—N/a	8.5	—N/a	4.5	9.0
10–15 May 2021	BiDiMedia	1,337	23.2	2.7	2.5	1.5	0.8	3.1	2.2	1.8	15.4	14.7	5.0	3.9	0.6	—N/a	12.7	1.9	9.0	7.8
5 June 2016	Election result	—	29.8	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	5.9	DNP	6.8	1.5	5.8	DNP	4.7	DNP	4.2	30.0	DNP	11.9	0.2

Results

Candidate		First round		Runoff		Leader's seats	Political party or party list		Votes	%	Seats
		Votes	%	Votes	%
	Stefano Lo Russo	140,200	43.86	168,997	59.23	–		Democratic Party	85,890	28.56	17
								Lo Russo List	15,013	4.99	2
								Ecologist Left	10,807	3.59	2
								Moderates	10,177	3.38	2
								Turin Tomorrow	7,960	2.65	1
								Article One – PSI	2,407	0.80	–
							Total		132,254	43.97	24
	Paolo Damilano	124,347	38.90	116,322	40.77	Y		Beautiful Turin	35,658	11.86	4
								Brothers of Italy	31,490	10.47	3
								League	29,593	9.84	3
								Forza Italia – UDC – PLI	15,951	5.30	2
								Turin Progress	2,236	0.74	–
								The People of the Family	1,320	0.44	–
								Yes TAV Yes Work – Renaissance	1,305	0.43	–
							Total		117,553	39.08	12
	Valentina Sganga	28,785	9.01	–	–	Y		Five Star Movement	24,058	8.00	2
								Green Europe	2,711	0.90	–
							Total		26,769	8.90	2
	Angelo d'Orsi	8,095	2.53	–	–	–		Left in Common (PRC – DemA – SA)	3,512	1.17	–
								Italian Communist Party	1,838	0.61	–
								Power to the People	1,656	0.55	–
							Total		7,006	2.33	–
	Ugo Mattei	7,406	2.32	–	–	–		Futura	6,975	2.32	–
	Francesco Ivano Verra	2,677	0.84	–	–	–		Italexit	2,353	0.78	–
								We Citizens	240	0.08	–
							Total		2,593	0.86	–
	Davide Betti	2,241	0.70	–	–	–		Gay Party	1,336	0.44	–
								Italian Animalist Party	775	0.26	–
							Total		2,111	0.70	–
	Greta Giusi Di Cristina	2,123	0.66	–	–	–		Communist Party	1,552	0.52	–
								Turin Future City	454	0.15	–
							Total		2,006	0.67	–
	Paolo Alonge	1,666	0.52	–	–	–		3V Movement	1,609	0.53	–
	Roberto Salerno	910	0.28	–	–	–		Turin Environmental Movement	792	0.26	–
	Lorenzo Varaldo	545	0.17	–	–	–		Prohibition of Dismissing	493	0.16	–
	Massimo Chiesi	384	0.12	–	–	–		Workers' Communist Party	360	0.12	–
	Emilio Mazza	264	0.08	–	–	–		Turin Capital of Europe	262	0,09	–
Total candidates		319,643	100	285,319	100	2	Total parties		300,783	100	38
Total valid votes		319,643	96.40	285,319	98.17
Blank or invalid ballots		11,923	3.60	5,313	1.83
Turnout		331,566	48.08	290,632	42.14
Eligible voters		689,684	100.00	689,684	100.00
Source: Ministry of the Interior (first round – second round)

Notes

• According to the Italian electoral law of 1993 for the municipalities of Italy, if a defeated candidate for mayor obtains over 3% of votes, the mayoral candidate is automatically elected city councillor (in this case Lo Russo, Damilano, and Sganga were all elected). The candidate elected mayor votes on the city council but is not a member of it.

See also

• 2021 Italian local elections
• Civic list (Italy)
• Elections in Turin

References

1. "Elezioni 2021, a Torino ballottaggio Lo Russo-Damilano - Piemonte" (in Italian). ANSA. 4 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
2. Jones, Gavin; Amante, Angelo (18 October 2021). "Centre-left wins Italian mayoral run-offs as right flounders". Reuters. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
3. Guccione, Gabriele (26 October 2021). "Torino, finisce l'era Appendino: Lo Russo si insedia a Palazzo civico". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 27 October 2021.
4. "Chiara Appendino non ci ripensa: non sarà candidata a sindaco di Torino" (in Italian). AGI. 16 May 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
5. "Normativa sulla elezione del sindaco e del presidente di provincia (CAPO III del T.U. sull'ordinamento degli enti locali 267 del 2000)". Ministero dell'Interno (in Italian). 2021. Archived from the original on 23 December 2024. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
6. "Torino: primarie centrosinistra, si candida Lo Russo" (in Italian). ANSA. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
7. "Elezioni comunali a Torino, raccolta firme per il civico Tresso a casa Salizzoni. Ma il chirurgo: 'Non sostengo nessuno alle primarie'". La Repubblica (in Italian). 5 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
8. "Pd, Enzo Lavolta formalizza la candidatura alle Primarie per la carica di sindaco di Torino". TorinoToday (in Italian). 16 November 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
9. "Igor Boni: 'Il futuro sindaco? Dovrà dare speranza. E allearsi con Milano'". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 7 November 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
10. Maestri, Gabriele (9 September 2021). "Torino, simboli e curiosità sulla scheda". I Simboli della Discordia (in Italian). Retrieved 25 September 2021.
11. "La lettera di rinuncia di Mauro Salizzoni alla corsa a sindaco". La Repubblica (in Italian). 11 March 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
12. "Chiamparino: 'Io candidato? Non esiste'". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 31 December 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
13. "Guido Saracco rinuncia a candidarsi a sindaco di Torino per il centrosinistra". La Repubblica (in Italian). 26 November 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
14. "Appendino sciogliele riserve, non si ricandida" (in Italian). ANSA. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.

Further reading

• Vassallo, Salvatore (April 2022). "The local elections of 2021. Voting in the large cities". Contemporary Italian Politics. 14 (2): 151–171. doi:10.1080/23248823.2022.2051831. ISSN   2324-8823.