Campania, Fico's avalanche: 32 seats for the center-left, the center-right stops at 17
With a wide field over 60%, FdI overtakes Forza Italia in the race to become the leading opposition party.
The voting numbers
Roberto Fico clearly wins the race for Palazzo Santa Lucia: the broad-based candidate finishes with 60,63% of the vote, compared to Edmondo Cirielli's 35,72%, a gap of almost 25 percentage points. The seat picture is equally clear: 32 seats for the center-left and 17 for the center-right, with the other presidential candidates excluded from the Council because they fall below the 2,5% threshold.
Among the outsiders, Giuliano Granato's Campania Popolare stalled at 2,03%, narrowly missing out on a seat in the chamber. Nicola Campanile with Per (0,95%), Stefano Bandecchi with Dimensione Bandecchi (0,49%), and Carlo Arnese with Forza del Popolo (0,17%) lagged far behind, all without seats.
Coalition seats
Overall distribution of seats in the Regional Council:
| Coalition | Votes % | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| Center-left (Fico) | 60,63 | 32 |
| Center-right (Cirielli) | 35,72 | 17 |
| Other candidates | 3,65 | 0 |
Fico surpassed 1,2 million votes, about 80,000 more than the lists supporting him, while Cirielli received over 757,000 votes, about 50,000 more than his lists combined. Turnout remained low at 44,06%, a factor that accentuates the weight of the more structured parties.
The parties and their seats
The Democratic Party confirmed its position as the region's leading force with 18,41% of the vote and 370.016 votes, about 28.500 fewer than in 2020 but a higher percentage, and won 10 seats, two more than five years ago. Within the center-right, Brothers of Italy prevailed over Forza Italia in the internal race: 11,93% to 10,72%, but both parties took home six seats each.
This is the overall map of parties and seats:
| Match | Votes % | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| PD | 18,41 | 10 |
| M5S | 9,90* | 5 |
| the high forehead | 8,34 | 4 |
| Forward Campania | 5,89 | 3 |
| Fico President | nd | 3 |
| Reformist House | nd | 3 |
| AVS | nd | 2 |
| We Center | nd | 2 |
| Brothers of Italy | 11,93 | 6 |
| Forza Italy | 10,72 | 6 |
| Alloy | 5,51 | 3 |
| Cirielli President | nd | 2 |
| Popular Campania | 2,03 | 0 |
| Per | 0,95 | 0 |
| Bandecchi Size | 0,49 | 0 |
| Strength of the People | 0,17 | 0 |
(*M5S indicated as “below 10%”; approximate value.)
In the progressive camp, in addition to the Democratic Party, the M5S (under 10% with 5 seats) also holds weight, along with the "A testa alta" list (8,34% and 4 seats), Avanti Campania (5,89% and 3 seats), the civic lists "Fico Presidente" and "Casa Riformista" (3 seats each), AVS (2 seats), and Noi Centro (2 seats). Completing the center-right are the FdI and Forza Italia, the League (5,51% and 3 seats) and the "Cirielli Presidente" list with 2 seats.
Elected in the Fico field
Among the Democratic Party's elected officials, the "top dogs" stand out: Giorgio Zinno, former mayor of San Giorgio a Cremano, nearly 40 votes, followed by Naples city councilor Salvatore Madonna with nearly 39 votes.
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The Five Star Movement (M5S) has five candidates in the chamber: Luca Trapanese, Councilor for Social Policies for the City of Naples, Salvatore Flocco, the incumbent Gennaro Saiello, Elena Vignati, and, for Caserta, Raffaele Aveta. For the "A testa alta" list, inspired by Vincenzo De Luca, four seats are available for Giovanni Porcelli, the incumbent Councilor for Education Lucia Fortini, Salerno Councilor Luca Cascone, and Regional Council President Gennaro Oliviero, who has moved from the Democratic Party to the governor's list.
Other majority councilors
The Socialists of Avanti Campania elected three councilors: Giovanni Mensorio, Andrea Volpe, and Giovanni Iovino. The "Fico Presidente" list elected Naples city councilor Nino Simeone, Davide D'Errico, and Giovanni Maria Cuofano.
For Casa Riformista, a reformist civic group, former Ercolano mayor Ciro Buonajuto, Pietro Smarrazzo, and incumbent Vincenzo Alaia are elected. AVS elects Carlo Ceparano and Rosario Andreozzi, while for Noi Centro, Giuseppe Barra and Pellegrino Mastella, son of Benevento mayor and former minister Clemente Mastella, win seats.
Elected in the center-right
In the center-right, Brothers of Italy can claim the primacy of the coalition's largest party: the list's main strength is the result of Ira Fele, businesswoman and wife of MP Michele Schiano di Visconti, who received the most votes among Melonians. Completing the FdI group are former Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, incumbent Raffaele Pisacane, Giuseppe Fabbricatore for Salerno, Vincenzo Santangelo for Caserta, and Ettore Zecchino for Avellino.
Forza Italia elects Massimo Pellicci and Susy Panico to the Council for the Naples constituency, Roberto Celano for Salerno, former Deluchian Giovanni Zannini for Caserta (third in terms of preferences in the entire Campania region with over 31 votes), Livio Petitto for Avellino, and Fernando Errico for Benevento. The League wins three seats with Michela Rostan, formerly of the Democratic Party, Leu, IV, and FI, Mimmo Minella, and Massimo Grimaldi.
Personal lists and center-right outsiders
The "Cirielli President" list won two seats, going to Francesco Iovino and Sebastiano Odierna. The candidacy of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs allowed the center-right to gain more votes than five years ago, but it wasn't enough to challenge the dominance of the broader coalition.
In the centrist and independent camp, Campania Popolare performed well, coming close to the threshold with 2,03% but still missing out on a vote. Per, Carlo Arnese's Forza del Popolo, and Dimensione Bandecchi all finished below 1%, with the candidacy of entrepreneur Maria Rosaria Boccia, the protagonist of the scandal that led to Sangiuliano's resignation from the MiC, stuck at just 118 votes.
The excellent excluded
The center-right is making waves over the failed election of Pasquale Di Fenza, the outgoing councilor who made headlines for his videos in the council chamber with TikToker Rita De Crescenzo, which went viral on social media. Di Fenza, who moved from Azione, finished only 19th out of 27 candidates with 1.208 votes, far short of the threshold needed to return to the chamber.
Among those not elected is Daniela Di Maggio, mother of Giovanbattista Cutolo, the young man killed for trivial reasons in Naples in 2023, who received only 964 votes on the League ticket. On the progressive front, AVS candidate Souzan Fatayer, the "Neapolitan Palestinian" who was at the center of a national controversy after Paolo Mieli's comments, remains out of the Council, despite her above-average media coverage.
Comments (1)
Fico's election as president of Campania was interesting, but it must be said that turnout was low, which raises questions about the real nature of political party support. The numbers are clear, but the turnout is not.