# 2006 Rome municipal election

Municipal elections were held in Rome on 28–29 May 2006 to elect the Mayor of Rome and 60 members of the City Council, as well as the nineteen presidents and more than 400 councillors of the 19 municipi in which the municipality was divided.
The two main candidates were the incumbent left-wing Walter Veltroni and the national-conservative Minister of Agricolture Gianni Alemanno.
As a result, the incumbent mayor Walter Veltroni was re-elected for a second five-year term by a landslide.

## Background

In April 2006 national general election saw a narrow victory for the centre-left coalition led by Romano Prodi over the incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the centre-right coalition House of Freedoms. To prevent a possible political advantage for the centre-left coalition, Berlusconi had previously fixed the date of the general election in early April, avoiding the municipal elections (which interested Rome and many other big cities such as Milan, Naples and Turin) to take place on the same day, as it actually happened in 2001. Berlusconi stated this was due to his fear that good government by centre-left mayors could favour the centre-left coalition in the general election. The date for municipal elections was ultimately fixed by the Government for 28–29 May 2006.

### Mayoral election

The incumbent mayor Walter Veltroni, whose popularity had hugely increased during his term in office, was then widely considered one of the most popular left-wing politicians in Italy. His candidacy was supported by the new centre-left platform, called The Union. His main opponent was the incumbent Minister of Agricolture Gianni Alemanno, supported by the centre-right House of Freedoms alliance.
During the campaign Alemanno was heavily criticized for the support, sought and obtained at the national level by Berlusconi, of a number of fascist movements and parties, notably the Social Alternative of Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the former dictator of Italy. Alemanno himself sparked public outrage after appearing live with a celtic cross on his neck during a TV show just a week before the election.

## 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.
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.

## Parties and candidates

This is a list of the major parties (and their respective leaders) which participated in the election.
| Political party or alliance | Constituent lists | Candidate |
| Centre-left coalition (The Union) | The Olive Tree | Walter Veltroni |
| Centre-left coalition (The Union) | Veltroni List | Walter Veltroni |
| Centre-left coalition (The Union) | Communist Refoundation Party | Walter Veltroni |
| Centre-left coalition (The Union) | Party of Italian Communists | Walter Veltroni |
| Centre-left coalition (The Union) | Rose in the Fist | Walter Veltroni |
| Centre-left coalition (The Union) | Federation of the Greens | Walter Veltroni |
| Centre-left coalition (The Union) | Italy of Values | Walter Veltroni |
| Centre-left coalition (The Union) | Others | Walter Veltroni |
| Centre-right coalition (House of Freedoms) | Forza Italia | Gianni Alemanno |
| Centre-right coalition (House of Freedoms) | National Alliance | Gianni Alemanno |
| Centre-right coalition (House of Freedoms) | Union of Christian and Centre Democrats | Gianni Alemanno |
| Centre-right coalition (House of Freedoms) | Christian Democracy for Autonomies | Gianni Alemanno |
| Centre-right coalition (House of Freedoms) | Social Action | Gianni Alemanno |
| Centre-right coalition (House of Freedoms) | Others | Gianni Alemanno |

## Results

Summary of the 2006 Rome City Council and Mayoral election results :
| Candidates | Candidates | Votes | % | Leader's seat | Parties | Votes | % | Seats |
| | Walter Veltroni | 926,932 | 61.42 | – | The Olive Tree | 441,914 | 33.82 | 23 |
| | Walter Veltroni | 926,932 | 61.42 | – | Veltroni List | 80,328 | 6.15 | 4 |
| | Walter Veltroni | 926,932 | 61.42 | – | Communist Refoundation Party | 70,918 | 5.43 | 3 |
| | Walter Veltroni | 926,932 | 61.42 | – | Federation of the Greens | 62,262 | 4.76 | 3 |
| | Walter Veltroni | 926,932 | 61.42 | – | Moderates | 57,339 | 4.39 | 2 |
| | Walter Veltroni | 926,932 | 61.42 | – | Italy of Values | 29,822 | 2.28 | 1 |
| | Walter Veltroni | 926,932 | 61.42 | – | Rose in the Fist | 25,695 | 1.97 | 1 |
| | Walter Veltroni | 926,932 | 61.42 | – | Party of Italian Communists | 19,883 | 1.52 | 1 |
| | Walter Veltroni | 926,932 | 61.42 | – | Rainbow Rome | 8,524 | 0.65 | – |
| | Walter Veltroni | 926,932 | 61.42 | – | Consumers' List | 2,046 | 0.16 | – |
| | Walter Veltroni | 926,932 | 61.42 | – | United Consumers | 1,943 | 0.15 | – |
| | Walter Veltroni | 926,932 | 61.42 | – | Italian Democratic Socialist Party | 1,157 | 0.09 | – |
| | Walter Veltroni | 926,932 | 61.42 | – | Total | 801,831 | 61.36 | 38 |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | National Alliance | 254,337 | 19.46 | 13 |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | Forza Italia | 132,869 | 10.17 | 6 |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | Union of Christian and Centre Democrats | 56,763 | 4.34 | 2 |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | Love for Rome | 10,150 | 0.78 | – |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | Social Action | 7,553 | 0.58 | – |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | Christian Democracy for Autonomies | 7,276 | 0.56 | – |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | New Italian Socialist Party | 5,333 | 0.41 | – |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | Forza Roma | 3,466 | 0.27 | – |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | Italian Republican Party | 2,057 | 0.16 | – |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | Avanti Lazio | 1,327 | 0.10 | – |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | Independent Movement for Animal Rights | 850 | 0.07 | – |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | Pensions, Houses and Work | 698 | 0.05 | – |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | New Generation | 661 | 0.05 | – |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | Real Democratic Party | 538 | 0.04 | – |
| | Gianni Alemanno | 559,810 | 37.09 | Y | Total | 483,878 | 37.03 | 21 |
| | Rita Casillo | 5,816 | 0.39 | – | Communist Initiative | 5,334 | 0.41 | |
| | Luca Romagnoli | 4,015 | 0.27 | – | Tricolour Flame | 3,848 | 0.29 | – |
| | David Gramiccioli | 3,530 | 0.23 | – | Dolphin National Movement | 3,149 | 0.24 | – |
| | Alessandra Sarti Magi | 2,655 | 0.18 | – | New Force – National Social Front | 2,603 | 0.20 | – |
| | Valentina Valenti | 2,593 | 0.17 | – | Third Pole | 2,650 | 0.20 | – |
| | Roberto De Santis | 1,091 | 0.07 | – | Ecologists | 943 | 0.07 | – |
| | Umberto Nardinocchi | 1,076 | 0.07 | – | Active Democracy | 985 | 0.08 | – |
| | Marina Larena | 707 | 0.05 | – | Humanist Party | 631 | 0.05 | – |
| | Stefano Fuccelli | 618 | 0.04 | – | European Animalist Party | 562 | 0.04 | – |
| | Maurizio Giorgetti | 351 | 0.02 | – | Italian Dream | 303 | 0.02 | – |
| Total | Total | 1,509,194 | 100.00 | 1 | | 1,306,717 | 100.00 | 59 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 2,341,773 | 100.00 | | | | | |
| Did not vote | Did not vote | 796,688 | 34.02 | | | | | |
| Voted | Voted | 1,545,085 | 65.98 | | | | | |
| Blank or invalid ballots | Blank or invalid ballots | 35,891 | 2.32 | | | | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 1,509,194 | 97.68 | | | | | |
| Source: Ministry of the Interior ||||||||||

## Municipi election

All the presidents of each municipio were elected on the first round. Table below shows the results for each municipio with the percentage for each coalition:
| Municipio | The Olive Tree | House of Freedoms | Elected President | Party |
| I | 61.8 | 37.3 | Giuseppe Lobefaro | DL |
| II | 53.9 | 44.7 | Guido Bottini | DS |
| III | 62.8 | 36.5 | Orlando Corsetti | DL |
| IV | 60.7 | 37.5 | Alessandro Cardente | FdV |
| V | 66.0 | 32.0 | Ivano Caradonna | DS |
| VI | 65.5 | 33.3 | Teodoro Giannini | RnP |
| VII | 64.1 | 34.2 | Roberto Mastrantonio | IdV |
| VIII | 62.2 | 35.9 | Fabrizio Scorzoni | DS |
| IX | 60.8 | 36.2 | Susana Ana Maria Fantino | PRC |
| X | 65.4 | 33.3 | Sandro Medici | PRC |
| XI | 64.1 | 34.3 | Andrea Catarci | PRC |
| XII | 57.7 | 41.8 | Patrizia Prestipino | DL |
| XIII | 59.3 | 39.3 | Paolo Ornelli | DS |
| XV | 61.6 | 37.2 | Giovanni Paris | DL |
| XVI | 61.2 | 37.4 | Fabio Bellini | DS |
| XVII | 54.5 | 44.3 | Antonella De Giusti | DL |
| XVIII | 52.1 | 46.9 | Maria Giovanna Filardi | DS |
| XIX | 57.8 | 40.2 | Fabio Lazzara | DS |
| XX | 48.1 | 50.0 | Massimiliano Fasoli | UDC |
Source: Municipality of Rome - Electoral Service