The elections turned out to be a competition between two rival coalitions built around the two major parties: The People of Freedom (PdL) of Silvio Berlusconi and the Democratic Party (PD) led by Pier Luigi Bersani . The third largest party in Italy, Northern League (whose main regional sections, Liga Veneta , Lega Lombarda and Lega Piemont playing a large role in Veneto, Lombardy and Piedmont, respectively) supported joint candidates with the PdL in Northern and Central Italy .
The centre-right went to win the elections by gaining four more regions than in 2005: Campania, Lazio, Piedmont and Calabria. The centre-left coalition won seven regions out of 13.
Lega Nord played a major role in the North, where it was the second-largest party and the largest in Veneto. The party led by Umberto Bossi managed to have two of its leading members elected at the head of a region: in Piedmont and in Veneto.
Beppe Grillo 's Five Star Movement , a protest party popular, had a strong showing in Emilia-Romagna.
Party Votes % Seats The People of Freedom (PdL)6,649,880 29.6 Democratic Party (PD)5,851,371 26.1 Northern League (LN)2,749,875 12.2 Italy of Values (IdV)1,565,336 7.0 Union of the Centre (UDC)1,248,886 5.6 Left Ecology Freedom (SEL)478,187 2.1 Others 3,903,908 17.4 Total 22,447,423 100 Source: Ministry of the Interior
Presidents of the regions edit
President Regional council Candidate Party Votes % Alliance Votes % Seats Roberto Cota LN 1,043,318 47.3 Centre-right 889,916 47.0 36 Mercedes Bresso PD 1,033,946 46.9 Centre-left 900,537 47.6 22 Davide Bono M5S 90,086 4.1 Five Star 69,448 3.7 2 Others 36,999 1.7 Others 34,170 1.8 0
President Regional council Candidate Party Votes % Alliance Votes % Seats Roberto Formigoni PdL 2,704,364 56.11 Centre-right 2,479,368 58.16 49 Filippo Penati PD 1,603,666 33.27 Centre-left 1,421,688 33.35 28 Savino Pezzotta UDC 225,849 4.69 Centre 164,078 3.85 3 Others 285,697 5.9 Others 197,892 4.6 0
President Regional council Candidate Party Votes % Alliance Votes % Seats Luca Zaia LN 1,528,386 60.2 Centre-right 1,361,702 60.7 37 Giuseppe Bortolussi Ind. 738,761 29.1 Centre-left 657,798 29.3 19 Antonio De Poli UDC 162,235 6.4 Centre 145,114 6.5 4 Others 111,294 4.4 Others 78,429 3.5 0
President Regional council Candidate Party Votes % Alliance Votes % Seats Vasco Errani PD 1,197,789 52.1 Centre-left 1,095,604 51.9 32 Anna Maria Bernini PdL 844,915 36.7 Centre-right 808,404 38.3 15 Giovanni Favia M5S 161,056 7.0 Five Star 126,619 6.0 2 Gian Luca Galletti UDC 96,625 4.2 Centre 79,244 3.8 1
President Regional council Candidate Party Votes % Alliance Votes % Seats Renata Polverini PdL 1,409,025 51.1 Centre-right 1,260,094 58.2 42 Emma Bonino RI 1,331,375 48.3 Centre-left 1,185,232 48.3 29 Others 14,685 0.5 Others 7,860 0.3 0
President Regional council Candidate Party Votes % Alliance Votes % Seats Stefano Caldoro PdL 1,586,490 54.3 Centre-right 1,615,118 58.6 39 Vincenzo De Luca PD 1,258,787 43.0 Centre-left 1,061,148 38.5 21 Others 79,083 1.7 Others 79,889 2.9 0
Sources: Ministry of the Interior – Historical Archive of Elections , Corriere della Sera La Repubblica
Baldi, Brunetta; Tronconi, Filippo (2011). Between the Center and the Periphery: The Regional Elections and the Path to Fiscal Federalism . Italian Politics. Vol. 26. Berghahn. pp. 122–140. 
