2008 Rome municipal election

2008 Rome mayoral election

← 2006 13–14 April 2008 and 27–28 April 2008 2013 →
Turnout	73.7% (first round) 63.1% (second round)
Candidate Gianni Alemanno Francesco Rutelli Party People of Freedom Democratic Party Popular vote 675,111 759,252 Percentage 40.7% 45.8% Popular vote (2nd) 783,725 676,850 Percentage (2nd) 53.7% 46.3%
Mayor before election Walter Veltroni Elected Mayor Gianni Alemanno

Snap municipal elections were held in Rome on 13–14 April 2008, at the same time as the Italian general elections.

The incumbent Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni (PD), resigned on 13 February 2008 to run as the main candidate of the centre-left coalition in the general election.

The center-right coalition candidate Gianni Alemanno, who was defeated by Veltroni in 2006, faced the centre-left coalition candidate, the incumbent Minister of Culture and Deputy Prime Minister Francesco Rutelli, who had previously hold the position of Mayor of Rome from 1993 to 2001.

Gianni Alemanno unexpectedly won the election on the second round and became the first centre-right directly elected mayor of Rome.

Background[]

Following the fall of Prodi's government in January 2008,^[1] Veltroni, as national secretary of the newborn Democratic Party (PD), was chosen to run as the main candidate for the centre-left coalition in the April snap general election and resigned to concentrate on the national campaign.^[2]

Mayoral election[]

The centre-right coalition was led by Gianni Alemanno (PdL). Alemanno rejected a formal alliance with the far-right parties, but his critics emphasized that his victory was greeted by crowds of supporters, among them far right skinheads.^[3]

The centre-left coalition was led by Francesco Rutelli, who continued to maintain a huge popularity across the city.

Voting system[]

The voting system is used for all mayoral elections in Italy, in the city 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. This gives a result whereby the winning candidate may be able to claim majority support, although it is not guaranteed.

For municipi the voting system is the same, not referred to the mayor but to the president of the municipio.

The election of the city council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a preference vote: the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally.

Results[]

Summary of the 2008 Rome City Council election results

Candidates		I round		II round		Leaders seats	Parties	Votes	%	Seats
		Votes	%	Votes	%
	Gianni Alemanno	675,111	40.73	783,725	53.66	–	The People of Freedom	559,559	36.58	35
							Alemanno for Mayor	18,734	1.22	1
							The People of Life	10,194	0.67	–
							Movement for Autonomy	9,185	0.60	–
							The Voice of Consumers	5,196	0.34	–
							Italian Republican Party	3,308	0.22	–
	Francesco Rutelli	759,252	45.80	676,850	46.34	1	Democratic Party	520,723	34.04	17
							The Left – The Rainbow	69,079	4.52	2
							Italy of Values	50,704	3.31	1
							Civic List for Rutelli	41,880	2.74	1
							Baldi for Mayor (A)	11,913	0.78	–
							Under 30 for Rutelli	11,486	0.75	–
							Bonino List	10,427	0.68	–
							Moderates for Rome	7,470	0.49	–
							Forza Roma (B)	4,911	0.32	–
							Democratic Union for Consumers	2,699	0.18	–
							Avanti Lazio (B)	1,792	0.12	–
	Francesco Storace	55,041	3.32	–	–	–	The Right – Tricolour Flame	51.614	3.37	1
		52,055	3.14	–	–	–	Union of the Centre	50,682	3.31	1
	Serenetta Monti	43,966	2.65	–	–	–	Friends of Beppe Grillo	40,389	2.64	–
	Franco Grillini	13,604	0.82	–	–	–	Socialist Party	11,413	0.75	–
	Michele Baldi	13,002	0.78	–	–	–	(A)
	Mario Baccini	12,179	0.73	–	–	–	The White Rose	11,659	0.76	–
	Dario Di Francesco	12,041	0.73	–	–	–	Talking Cricket List	4,895	0.32	–
							(B) (C)
	Armando Morgia	8,724	0.53	–	–	–	Critical Left	8,207	0.54	–
	Susanna Capristo	5,011	0.30	–	–	–	Workers' Communist Party	4,608	0.30	–
	David Gramiccioli	3,556	0.21	–	–	–	Dolphin National Movement	3,309	0.22	–
	Pietro De Stefani	2,699	0.16	–	–	–	Pensions and Work	1,883	0.12	–
							The Green Thing	673	0.04	–
	Umberto Calabrese	1,342	0.08	–	–	–	My Italy	1,279	0.08	–
Total		1,657,583	100.00	1,460,575	100.00	1		1,529,871	100.00	59
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Municipi election[]

Table below shows the results for each municipio with the percentage for each coalition on the first round:

Table below shows the results for each municipio with the percentage for each coalition on the second round:

Source: Municipality of Rome - Electoral Service

Notes[]