Apulian regional election, 2005

Apulian regional election, 2005

April 3-4, 2005

All 70 seats to the Regional Council of Apulia   Majority party Minority party   Leader Nichi Vendola Raffaele Fitto Party Communist Refoundation Party Forza Italia Alliance The Union House of Freedoms Last election 22 seats, 43.5% 38 seats, 54.0% Seats won 42 28 Seat change 20 10 Popular vote 1,165,536 1,151,405 Percentage 49.8% 49.2% Swing 6,3% 5.8%

President of Apulia before election Raffaele Fitto House of Freedoms President of Apulia Nichi Vendola The Olive Tree

The Apulian regional election of 2005 took place on 3–4 April 2005.

Nichi Vendola (Communist Refoundation Party) defeated incumbent Raffaele Fitto (Forza Italia).

The success of Vendola came somewhat unexpected. In a Southern Italian Region, expected to be morally conservative, Vendola, a communist and a homosexual, defeated Fitto, a Christian democrat. Vendola was the first candidate ever to be appointed by its coalition through a primary election instead of agreements between parties. A defeat of Vendola might have resulted in a cancellation of the primary election of The Union for choosing the candidate for Prime Minister in the 2006 general election.

Results

Candidates & parties	votes	votes (%)	seats
Nichi Vendola	1,165,536	49.84	42+1
Democrats of the Left	356,369	16.63	14
Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy	208,806	9.74	8
Communist Refoundation Party	109,146	5.09	4
Italian Democratic Socialists	86,096	4.01	3
UDEUR	70,293	3.28	3
The Apulian Spring	55,335	2.58	3
Party of Italian Communists	48,141	2.24	2
PSDI–Autonomist Socialists–MRE	47,511	2.22	2
Italy of Values	38,120	1.78	1
Federation of the Greens	33,309	1.55	1
United Christian Democrats	8,397	0.39	0
Pensioners' Party	3,959	0.18	0
Raffaele Fitto	1,151,405	49.24	28+1
Forza Italia	381,663	17.80	10
National Alliance	259,563	12.10	7
Apulia First of All	196,281	9.15	5
Union of Christian and Centre Democrats	167,038	7.79	4
NPSI–PRI	48,109	2.24	1
Social Idea Movement	10,099	0.47	0
Gianfelice Galassi	10,973	0.47	–
Social Alternative	9,368	0.44	0
Laura Scalabrini	10,477	0.45	–
Christian Democracy	6,791	0.32	0
Total	2,338,391	100.00	70

Sources: Ministry of the Interior