# 2021 Turin municipal election

The 2021 Turin municipal election took place in Turin, Italy, on 3 and 4 October 2021, to elect the mayor and the 38 members of the Turin city council. Since no mayoral candidate won a majority of votes on the first round, a runoff was held on 17 and 18 October 2021. The second round was won by the centre-left coalition candidate Stefano Lo Russo, member of the Democratic Party, who was officially inaugurated as the new mayor of Turin on 27 October 2021. The incumbent mayor of Turin, Chiara Appendino of the Five Star Movement, did not run for re-election.

## Electoral system

The voting system 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 during the first round, 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.
The election of the City Council 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 D'Hondt seat allocation. Only coalitions with more than 3% of votes are eligible to get any seats.

## Background
### Centre-left primary election

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

## Parties and candidates

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

## Declined candidates
### Withdrew
#### Centre-left coalition

* Mauro Salizzoni, medic and regional councilor of Piedmont (since 2019)

### Declined
#### Centre-left coalition

* Sergio Chiamparino, president of Piedmont (2014–2019) and mayor of Turin (2001–2011)
* Guido Saracco, rector of the Polytechnic University of Turin since 2018

#### Five Star Movement

* Chiara Appendino, mayor of Turin since 2016

## Opinion polls
### First round

| Date | Polling firm/ Client | 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 | — | 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/ Client | Sample size | Damilano | Lo Russo | Abstain | Lead |
| 9–15 Sep 2021 | SWG | 1,000 | 48.0 | 52.0 | — | 4.0 |
| 6–11 Sep 2021 | Ipsos | 1,000 | 48.0 | 52.0 | — | 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 | — | 4.0 |
| 16 Jul 2021 | SWG | 1,600 | 48.0 | 52.0 | — | 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 | — | 6.0 |

### Parties

| Date | Polling firm | Sample size | Centre-left | Centre-left | Centre-left | Centre-left | Centre-left | Centre-left | Centre-left | Centre-left | Centre-right | Centre-right | Centre-right | Centre-right | Centre-right | Centre-right | M5S-EV | M5S-EV | Others | Lead |
| Date | Polling firm | Sample size | PD | A | IV | +E | Volt | Mod | SI | Others | FdI | LSP | BT | FI | C! | Others | M5S | EV | Others | Lead |
| 4 October 2021 | Election result | - | 28.6 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 10.5 | 9.8 | 11.9 | 5.3 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 8.0 | 0.9 | 8.0 | 18.1 |
| 9–15 Sep 2021 | SWG | 1,000 | 25.9 | — | — | — | — | 3.8 | 3.2 | 8.3 | 10.7 | 19.4 | 2.1 | 8.3 | — | 1.5 | 7.6 | 1.6 | 7.6 | 6.5 |
| 6–11 Sep 2021 | Ipsos | 1,000 | 31.2 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 1.5 | — | 1.5 | 9.5 | 20.0 | 2.5 | 9.2 | — | 1.8 | 8.9 | 1.0 | 8.3 | 11.2 |
| 3–8 Sep 2021 | Quorum | 808 | 32.3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8.2 | 14.7 | 19.4 | — | 4.2 | — | 4.8 | 7.4 | 1.4 | 7.6 | 12.9 |
| 27–29 Aug 2021 | BiDiMedia | 809 | 26.5 | — | — | — | — | 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 | — | — | 3.0 | 2.0 | 5.5 | 11.0 | 21.5 | 2.5 | 8.0 | — | — | 8.5 | — | 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 | — | 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 | Candidate | First round | First round | Runoff | Runoff | Seats | Parties | Parties | Votes | % | Seats |
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | % | Seats | Parties | Parties | Votes | % | Seats |
| | Stefano Lo Russo | 140,200 | 43.86 | 168,997 | 59.23 | – | | Democratic Party | 85,890 | 28.56 | 17 |
| | Stefano Lo Russo | 140,200 | 43.86 | 168,997 | 59.23 | – | | Lo Russo List | 15,013 | 4.99 | 2 |
| | Stefano Lo Russo | 140,200 | 43.86 | 168,997 | 59.23 | – | | Ecologist Left | 10,807 | 3.59 | 2 |
| | Stefano Lo Russo | 140,200 | 43.86 | 168,997 | 59.23 | – | | Moderates | 10,177 | 3.38 | 2 |
| | Stefano Lo Russo | 140,200 | 43.86 | 168,997 | 59.23 | – | | Turin Tomorrow | 7,960 | 2.65 | 1 |
| | Stefano Lo Russo | 140,200 | 43.86 | 168,997 | 59.23 | – | | Article One – PSI | 2,407 | 0.80 | – |
| | Stefano Lo Russo | 140,200 | 43.86 | 168,997 | 59.23 | – | Total | Total | 132,254 | 43.97 | 24 |
| | Paolo Damilano | 124,347 | 38.90 | 116,322 | 40.77 | 1 | | Beautiful Turin | 35,658 | 11.86 | 4 |
| | Paolo Damilano | 124,347 | 38.90 | 116,322 | 40.77 | 1 | | Brothers of Italy | 31,490 | 10.47 | 3 |
| | Paolo Damilano | 124,347 | 38.90 | 116,322 | 40.77 | 1 | | League | 29,593 | 9.84 | 3 |
| | Paolo Damilano | 124,347 | 38.90 | 116,322 | 40.77 | 1 | | Forza Italia – UDC – PLI | 15,951 | 5.30 | 2 |
| | Paolo Damilano | 124,347 | 38.90 | 116,322 | 40.77 | 1 | | Turin Progress | 2,236 | 0.74 | – |
| | Paolo Damilano | 124,347 | 38.90 | 116,322 | 40.77 | 1 | | The People of the Family | 1,320 | 0.44 | – |
| | Paolo Damilano | 124,347 | 38.90 | 116,322 | 40.77 | 1 | | Yes TAV Yes Work – Renaissance | 1,305 | 0.43 | – |
| | Paolo Damilano | 124,347 | 38.90 | 116,322 | 40.77 | 1 | Total | Total | 117,553 | 39.08 | 12 |
| | Valentina Sganga | 28,785 | 9.01 | – | – | 1 | | Five Star Movement | 24,058 | 8.00 | 2 |
| | Valentina Sganga | 28,785 | 9.01 | – | – | 1 | | Green Europe | 2,711 | 0.90 | – |
| | Valentina Sganga | 28,785 | 9.01 | – | – | 1 | Total | Total | 26,769 | 8.90 | 2 |
| | Angelo d'Orsi | 8,095 | 2.53 | – | – | – | | Left in Common (PRC – DemA – SA) | 3,512 | 1.17 | – |
| | Angelo d'Orsi | 8,095 | 2.53 | – | – | – | | Italian Communist Party | 1,838 | 0.61 | – |
| | Angelo d'Orsi | 8,095 | 2.53 | – | – | – | | Power to the People | 1,656 | 0.55 | – |
| | Angelo d'Orsi | 8,095 | 2.53 | – | – | – | Total | 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 | – |
| | Francesco Ivano Verra | 2,677 | 0.84 | – | – | – | | We Citizens | 240 | 0.08 | – |
| | Francesco Ivano Verra | 2,677 | 0.84 | – | – | – | Total | Total | 2,593 | 0.86 | – |
| | Davide Betti | 2,241 | 0.70 | – | – | – | | Gay Party | 1,336 | 0.44 | – |
| | Davide Betti | 2,241 | 0.70 | – | – | – | | Italian Animalist Party | 775 | 0.26 | – |
| | Davide Betti | 2,241 | 0.70 | – | – | – | Total | Total | 2,111 | 0.70 | – |
| | Greta Giusi Di Cristina | 2,123 | 0.66 | – | – | – | | Communist Party | 1,552 | 0.52 | – |
| | Greta Giusi Di Cristina | 2,123 | 0.66 | – | – | – | | Turin Future City | 454 | 0.15 | – |
| | Greta Giusi Di Cristina | 2,123 | 0.66 | – | – | – | Total | 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 | Total candidates | 319,643 | 100 | 285,319 | 100 | 2 | Total parties | Total parties | 300,783 | 100 | 38 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 319,643 | 96.40 | 285,319 | 98.17 |
| Blank or invalid ballots | Blank or invalid ballots | 11,923 | 3.60 | 5,313 | 1.83 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 331,566 | 48.08 | 290,632 | 42.14 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 689,684 | 100.00 | 689,684 | 100.00 |
| Source: Ministry of the Interior (first round Archived 2021-10-05 at the Wayback Machine, second round Archived 2022-01-03 at the Wayback Machine) ||||||||||||