List of mayors of Potenza

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Mayor of Potenza
Sindaco di Potenza
Incumbent
Mario Guarente (Lega)
since 20 June 2019
AppointerPopular election
Term length5 years, renewable once
Formation1860
WebsiteOfficial website

The mayor of Potenza is an elected politician who, along with the Potenza City Council, is accountable for the strategic government of Potenza in Basilicata, Italy, capital city of the region. During the First Italian Republic period, the city was a stronghold of Christian Democracy, and Emilio Colombo, who held the mayoralty office in 1952, was prime minister of Italy from 1970 to 1972. During the Second Italian Republic, it was a stronghold of the centre-left coalition and its centrist and Christian-democratic parties.

In 2014, Dario De Luca of Brothers of Italy, a heir of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement and the post-fascist National Alliance, became the first right-wing mayor of Potenza. In 2019, after initially announcing his re-election bid, De Luca did not run for re-election. Instead, he was replaced by Mario Guarente of the traditional Northern Italian party Lega, which was born in the 1980s as a regionalist, Padanian nationalist, and separatist party but that since 2017 and under Matteo Salvini's leadership had become more of a right-wing populist and nationalist party and obtained successes in Southern Italy, including Potenza's mayoralty. In 2024, the centre-right coalition did not re-nominate Guarente as candidate due to his unpopularity.

Overview[edit]

According to the Constitution of Italy, the mayor of Potenza is member of the City Council. The mayor is elected by the population of Potenza, who also elect the members of the City Council, controlling the mayor's policy guidelines and is able to enforce his resignation by a motion of no confidence. The mayor is entitled to appoint and release the members of his government. Since 1995, the mayor is elected directly by Potenza's electorate; in all mayoral elections in Italy in cities with a population higher than 15,000, the voters express a direct choice for the mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. The election of the City Council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a preference vote, and the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected, while the number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally. If no candidate receives at least 50% of votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks.[1][2][3]

From 1946 to 1995, the mayor of Potenza, which was elected by the City Council, was always a member of Christian Democracy, the ruling party of post-war Italy; as of 2024, of those who held the office of mayor of Potenza, Emilio Colombo (1952) is the only one to be a former prime minister of Italy (1970–1972). In the 1995 Italian local elections, Domenico Potenza of the Democratic Party of the Left became the first mayor of Potenza through direct elections. Up until the 2014 Italian local elections, the office was always held by a member of the centre-left coalition. Overturning the result of the first round, Dario De Luca of Brothers of Italy was elected mayor of Potenza on 8 June 2014 and took office on 23 June 2014.[4][5][6] In an upset, he was the first representative of Brothers of Italy to be elected mayor in a provincial capital, the first right-wing mayor of Potenza, and the first centre-right coalition's win.[7][8] For the 2019 Italian local elections, after De Luca initially announced his re-election bid,[9][10][11] he ultimately decided not to run for a second term, and he was succeeded by fellow centre-right coalition member Mario Guarente,[12][13] who took office on 20 June 2019.[14] A member of Lega, which since Matteo Salvini's leadership had underwent ideological changes that allowed it to gain a significant number of votes in Southern Italy, Guarente was elected in the runoff on 9 June 2019, defeating his left-wing opponent Valerio Tramutoli of Possible by 200 votes,[15] and took office on 20 June 2019.[16] For the 2024 Italian local elections, Guarente did not seek re-election,[17][18][19] having been one of the least popular mayors.[20]

Italian Republic (since 1946)[edit]

City Council election (1946–1995)[edit]

From 1946 to 1995, the mayor of Potenza was elected by the City Council.

  Mayor Term start Term end Party
1 Pietro Scognamiglio 1946 1948 Christian Democracy
2 Giuseppe Sivilia 1948 1949 Christian Democracy
(1) Pietro Scognamiglio 1949 1950 Christian Democracy
3 Emilio Colombo 14 June 1952 16 December 1952 Christian Democracy
4 Eugenio Brienza 16 December 1952 January 1955 Christian Democracy
5 Vincenzo Solimena January 1955 1960 Christian Democracy
6 Giovanni Messina 1960 1964 Christian Democracy
7 Francesco Petrullo 1965 1966 Christian Democracy
8 Imperio Napolitano 1966 1966 Christian Democracy
(7) Francesco Petrullo 1966 1970 Christian Democracy
9 Antonio Bellino 1970 1975 Christian Democracy
10 Raffaello Antonio Mecca 1975 29 September 1980 Christian Democracy
11 Gaetano Fierro 29 September 1980 17 June 1990 Christian Democracy
12 Rocco Sampogna 17 June 1990 7 May 1995 Christian Democracy

Direct election (since 1995)[edit]

Since 1995, under provisions of new local administration law, the mayor of Potenza is chosen by direct election.

  Mayor Term start Term end Party
13 Domenico Potenza 7 May 1995 13 June 1999 Democratic Party of the Left
(11) Gaetano Fierro 13 June 1999 14 July 2004 Union of Democrats for Europe
14 Vito Santarsiero 14 July 2004 7 June 2009 The Daisy
7 June 2009 23 June 2014 Democratic Party
15 Dario De Luca 23 June 2014 20 June 2019 Brothers of Italy
16 Mario Guarente 20 June 2019 Incumbent Lega

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Cipolla, Alessandro (16 May 2024). "Elezioni amministrative Potenza 2024: data, candidati, liste e sondaggi". Money.it (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  2. ^ Casula, Giulia (25 May 2024). "Elezioni Potenza 2024: date e orari, candidati e ultimi sondaggi sulle comunali". Fanpage.it (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Elezioni Comunali 2024, come e dove si vota: cosa sapere". Sky TG24 (in Italian). 29 May 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Dario De Luca". Dipartimento per gli Affari Interni e Territoriali (in Italian). 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ "Dario De Luca". Comune di Potenza (in Italian). 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Comune di Potenza – Basilicata – Ballottaggio – Elezioni comunali 25 maggio 2014". La Repubblica. 9 June 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Dario De Luca". Agenzia ANSA (in Italian). 9 June 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Dario De Luca è il primo sindaco di centrodestra di Potenza". Libero (in Italian). 9 June 2014. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Indiscreflash! Dario De Luca si ricandida a sindaco di Potenza?". Angeloma (in Italian). 28 March 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  10. ^ Pesarini, Rocco (29 March 2019). "Intervista a Dario De Luca: si ricandida?". Talenti Lucani – Passaggio a Sud (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Intervista a De Luca: 'Mi ricandido perché non voglio deludere chi mi ha chiesto di continuare'". Ufficio Stampa Basilicata (in Italian). 16 April 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  12. ^ "Potenza, proclamazione e passaggio di consegne per il nuovo sindaco Guarente". Basilicata24 (in Italian). 20 June 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  13. ^ Moliterni, Ferdinando (20 June 2019). "Finita l'era De Luca, il tricolore a Guarente". Le Cronache Lucane (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Potenza, Mario Guarente si insedia ufficialmente come sindaco". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno (in Italian). 20 June 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Elezioni comunali a Potenza, chi sono i candidati sindaco". Sky TG24 (in Italian). 31 May 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  16. ^ "Mario Guarente". Dipartimento per gli Affari Interni e Territoriali (in Italian). 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Comunali a Potenza, Guarente vacilla, si avvicina una rinuncia alla candidatura". Il Quotidiano del Sud (in Italian). 27 April 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  18. ^ "Clamoroso ma non troppo... Guarente abdica e Francesco Fanelli sarà il prossimo candidato sindaco per il centro destra al Comune di Potenza". Tutto Potenza (in Italian). 8 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  19. ^ "Comunali Potenza, Guarente (Lega) rinuncia, si va verso candidatura Fanelli". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno (in Italian). 8 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  20. ^ Amato, Leo (8 May 2024). "Comunali Potenza, Guarente rinuncia al bis, tocca a Fanelli". Il Quotidiano del Sud (in Italian). Retrieved 8 May 2024.

External links[edit]

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