Province of Lecce
Pellegrino was the president of the Province of Lecce, in Apulia, from 2004 until 2009. As representative of the Democrats of the Left (DS), he defeated Raffaele Baldassare (House of Freedoms) during the June 2004 elections with 51.8% of the vote, supported by a center-left coalition. He retired from politics in June 2009.