# 2010 Venetian regional election

The Venetian regional election of 2010 took place on 28–29 March 2010, as part of Italy's big round of regional elections.
Luca Zaia, rising star of the Northern League, was elected President by a landslide. With the support of 60.2% of Venetians, he was the most voted President of Veneto since direct election was introduced in 1995. Liga Veneta became the largest in the region with 35.2%. The total score of Venetist parties (also including North-East Union, Party of the Venetians, Venetian National Party and Liga Veneto Autonomo) was 37.6%, the highest so far. The People of Freedom of the outgoing President Giancarlo Galan came second with 24.7% of the vote and the Democratic Party third with 20.3%.
Northern League managed the highest swing ever in a regional election in Veneto (+20.5%), gaining from almost every side of the political spectrum, but mainly from The People of Freedom (–7.5%), the Democrats (–8.6%) and North-East Union (–5.1%), whose main member parties were North-East Project (5.4% in 2005) and Liga Veneta Repubblica (1.2%).

## Electoral system

Regional elections in Veneto were ruled by the "Tatarella law" (approved in 1995), which provided for a mixed electoral system: four fifths of the regional councilors were elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation, using the largest remainder method with a droop quota and open lists, while the residual votes and the unassigned seats were grouped into a "single regional constituency", where the whole ratios and the highest remainders were divided with the Hare method among the provincial party lists; one fifth of the council seats instead was reserved for regional lists and assigned with a majoritarian system: the leader of the regional list that scored the highest number of votes was elected to the presidency of the Region while the other candidates were elected regional councilors.
A threshold of 3% had been established for the provincial lists, which, however, could still have entered the regional council if the regional list to which they were connected had scored at least 5% of valid votes.
The panachage was also allowed: the voter can indicate a candidate for the presidency but prefer a provincial list connected to another candidate.

## Background

After having supported Giancarlo Galan (The People of Freedom, PdL) for ten years as President of Veneto, Liga Veneta–Lega Nord (that received 28.4% of the vote in the 2009 European Parliament election in Veneto compared to the 29.3% of the PdL), soon reclaimed the post of President for one of itself, with Luca Zaia (Minister of Agriculture in Berlusconi IV Cabinet) or Flavio Tosi (Mayor of Verona and most popular mayor of Italy) as likeliest choices.
Since the early days Zaia was the strongest candidate. According to an opinion poll, 72% of Venetian voters liked him and 67% considered him practised (48 and 42% were the scores of Galan, largely behind also of Tosi), a 49% would back him as President, while only 37% would back Galan. Moreover, centre-right voters preferred Zaia to Galan by an 8-point margin (49.3% to 41.2%). Differently from the incumbent president, Zaia was popular among the young and non-autonomous workers, who generally back the left. Galan and the regional section of the PdL (whose leader is Silvio Berlusconi) disagreed and wanted a fourth term for Galan, who was first elected in 1995. At some point a three-way race in Veneto between Galan, Zaia and a candidate of the Democratic Party (PD) seemed possible, but neither Berlusconi nor Umberto Bossi, federal secretary of Lega Nord, liked the idea.
In December 2009 the national committee of The People of Freedom (PdL) determined that it would have supported a Lega Nord member in Veneto. Subsequently the National Council (where "national" means "Venetian") of Liga Veneta nominated Zaia for President. Tosi, who as president of Liga Veneta presided the Council, tried until the last minute to be the candidate and some councillors opted for Franco Manzato instead. However, as a strong majority backed Zaia (including the party's secretary Gian Paolo Gobbo), Zaia was voted unanimously by the Council, including Tosi.
The Venetian PdL is afraid that Liga Veneta, headed by Zaia, will dominate regional politics for many years to come, similarly to what the South Tyrolean People's Party has done in South Tyrol. According to another opinion poll, in the forthcoming election, with Zaia candidate, the PdL would be reduced to a mere 23% with the League at 35% and Zaia would beat Galan also in a three-way race.
Galan, who has seldom hinted the idea of forming a Venetist party of his own, was rumored as independent candidate supported by the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC) and, less likely, by the opposition Democratic Party. However Galan ruled out the idea of running against his party and Zaia, opening the way for a bid by Antonio De Poli, UDC regional leader.
The UDC refused to join forces with the centre-left, leaving the PD to choose between Laura Puppato, Mayor of Montebelluna, who had expressed her interest for the race and Giuseppe Bortolussi, respected leader of the Mestre section of Confartigianato. The PD eventually chose Bortolussi, who beat Puppato by 39 votes to 29 in the regional board of the party.

## Parties and candidates

| Political party or alliance | Political party or alliance | Constituent lists | Constituent lists | Previous result | Previous result | Candidate |
| Political party or alliance | Political party or alliance | Constituent lists | Constituent lists | Votes (%) | Seats | Candidate |
| | Centre-right coalition | | The People of Freedom (PdL) | 33.2 | 17 | Luca Zaia |
| | Centre-right coalition | | Northern League – Venetian League (LN–LV) | 14.7 | 7 | Luca Zaia |
| | Centre-right coalition | | Alliance of the Centre – Christian Democracy (AdC–DC) | — | — | Luca Zaia |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Democratic Party (PD) | 24.3 | 13 | Giuseppe Bortolussi |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Federation of the Left (FdS) | 5.0 | 2 | Giuseppe Bortolussi |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Italy of Values (IdV) | 1.3 | – | Giuseppe Bortolussi |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Left Ecology Freedom – Italian Socialist Party (SEL–PSI) | — | — | Giuseppe Bortolussi |
| | Centre-left coalition | | IDEA – List for Veneto (incl. Greens) | — | — | Giuseppe Bortolussi |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Liga Veneto Autonomo (LVA) | — | — | Giuseppe Bortolussi |
| | Centrist coalition | | Union of the Centre (UDC) | 6.4 | 3 | Antonio De Poli |
| | Centrist coalition | | North-East Union (inc. PNE, LVR and IV) | 5.5 | 2 | Antonio De Poli |
| | Five Star Movement (M5S) | Five Star Movement (M5S) | Five Star Movement (M5S) | — | — | David Borrelli |
| | Venetians Independence | Venetians Independence | Venetians Independence | — | — | Silvano Polo |
| | New Force (FN) | New Force (FN) | New Force (FN) | — | — | Paolo Caratossidis |
| | Venetian National Party (PNV) | Venetian National Party (PNV) | Venetian National Party (PNV) | — | — | Gianluca Panto |

## Results

28–29 March 2010 Venetian regional election results :
| Candidates | Candidates | Votes | % | Seats | Parties | Parties | Votes | % | Seat |
| | Luca Zaia | 1,528,386 | 60.16 | 6 |
| | Luca Zaia | 1,528,386 | 60.16 | 6 | | Northern League – Venetian League | 788,581 | 35.16 | 18 |
| | Luca Zaia | 1,528,386 | 60.16 | 6 | | The People of Freedom | 555,006 | 24.74 | 13 |
| | Luca Zaia | 1,528,386 | 60.16 | 6 | | Alliance of the Centre – Christian Democracy | 18,114 | 0.81 | – |
| | Luca Zaia | 1,528,386 | 60.16 | 6 | Total | Total | 1,361,702 | 60.71 | 31 |
| | Giuseppe Bortolussi | 738,761 | 29.08 | 1 |
| | Giuseppe Bortolussi | 738,761 | 29.08 | 1 | | Democratic Party | 456,309 | 20.34 | 14 |
| | Giuseppe Bortolussi | 738,761 | 29.08 | 1 | | Italy of Values | 119,396 | 5.32 | 3 |
| | Giuseppe Bortolussi | 738,761 | 29.08 | 1 | | Federation of the Left | 35,028 | 1.56 | 1 |
| | Giuseppe Bortolussi | 738,761 | 29.08 | 1 | | Left Ecology Freedom – Italian Socialist Party | 27,578 | 1.23 | – |
| | Giuseppe Bortolussi | 738,761 | 29.08 | 1 | | IDEA – List for Veneto | 15,907 | 0.67 | – |
| | Giuseppe Bortolussi | 738,761 | 29.08 | 1 | | Liga Veneto Autonomo | 4,390 | 0.20 | – |
| | Giuseppe Bortolussi | 738,761 | 29.08 | 1 | Total | Total | 657,798 | 29.33 | 18 |
| | Antonio De Poli | 162,235 | 6.39 | – |
| | Antonio De Poli | 162,235 | 6.39 | – | | Union of the Centre | 110,417 | 4.92 | 3 |
| | Antonio De Poli | 162,235 | 6.39 | – | | North-East Union | 34,697 | 1.55 | 1 |
| | Antonio De Poli | 162,235 | 6.39 | – | Total | Total | 145,114 | 6.47 | 4 |
| | David Borrelli | 80,246 | 3.16 | – | | Five Star Movement | 57,848 | 2.58 | – |
| | Silvano Polo | 12,891 | 0.51 | – | | Venetians Independence | 7,879 | 0.35 | – |
| | Paolo Caratossidis | 9,151 | 0.35 | – | | New Force | 6,476 | 0.29 | – |
| | Gianluca Panto | 9,006 | 0.36 | – | | Venetian National Party | 6,226 | 0.28 | – |
| Total candidates | Total candidates | 2,540,736 | 100.00 | 7 | Total parties | Total parties | 2,243,042 | 100.00 | 53 |
| Source: Ministry of the Interior ||||||||||

### Council composition

Distribution of Seats in the Regional Council :
| Political Group | Leader | 2010 | 2015 |
| Venetian Democratic Party | Laura Puppato / Lucio Tiozzo | 14 | 10 |
| Liga Veneta–Lega Nord | Federico Caner | 20 | 7 |
| NCD–UdC | Giancarlo Conta | – | 7 |
| The People of Freedom–Forza Italia | Dario Bond | 17 | 5 |
| Forza Italia | Leonardo Padrin | – | 5 |
| Tosi List for Veneto (Venetian Commitment) | Francesco Piccolo | – | 3 |
| Popular Future | Stefano Valdegamberi | – | 3 |
| Veneto First | Giovanni Furlanetto | – | 3 |
| Family–Pensioners (Toward North–Venetian People) | Diego Bottacin | – | 3 |
| Civic Veneto | Giuseppe Berlato Sella | – | 3 |
| Zaia President | Gianpiero Possamai | – | 3 |
| Italy of Values | Gustavo Franchetto / Antonino Pipitone | 3 | 2 |
| Union of the Centre | Stefano Valdegamberi / Stefano Peraro | 3 | 1 |
| Federation of the Left | Pietrangelo Pettenò | 1 | 1 |
| North-East Union | Mariangelo Foggiato / Rolando Bortoluzzi | 1 | 1 |
| Bortolussi President | Giuseppe Bortolussi | 1 | 1 |
| Mixed Group | – | – | 2 |
Sources: Regional Council of Veneto – Groups and Regional Council of Veneto – Members

## Aftermath

After the election, Luca Zaia formed his first government, composed of twelve ministers, six of Liga Veneta, that maintained the strategic Health portfolio (with Luca Coletto) and gained, above all, Budget and Finances (with Roberto Ciambetti), and six of the PdL, including Marino Zorzato, who was sworn as Vice President, and Renato Chisso, who was confirmed for a third consecutive term as Minister of Infrastructures and Transports.
First Zaia Government :
| Office | Name | Party |
| President | Luca Zaia | LV |
| Vice President | Marino Zorzato | PdL/NCD |
| Minister of Budget and Local Government | Roberto Ciambetti | LV |
| Minister of Health | Luca Coletto | LV |
| Minister of Economic Development (also minister of Infrastructures since October 2014) | Maria Luisa Coppola | PdL/FI |
| Minister of Infrastructures and Transports | Renato Chisso (until June 2014) | PdL/FI |
| Minister of Public Works, Energy and Security | Massimo Giorgetti | PdL/FI |
| Minister of Agriculture | Franco Manzato | LV |
| Minister of Education and Labour (also minister of Transports since October 2014) | Elena Donazzan | PdL/FI |
| Minister of Social Affairs | Remo Sernagiotto (until June 2014) Davide Bendinelli (since October 2014) | PdL/FI FI |
| Minister of Tourism and International Trade | Marino Finozzi | LV |
| Minister of Environment | Maurizio Conte | LV/LTV |
| Minister of Venetian Identity and Civil Protection | Daniele Stival | LV/LTV |
| Minister of Culture and City Planning | Marino Zorzato | PdL/NCD |
Source: Veneto Region – Ninth Legislature – Zaia Government Note 1: In November 2013 The People of Freedom (PdL) was transformed into Forza Italia (FI); a group of dissidents formed the New Centre-Right (NCD). Note 2: In March 2015 a group of splinters from Liga Veneta (LV) formed the Tosi List for Veneto (LTV).