2005 Apulian regional election

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All 70 seats to the Regional Council of Apulia
Majority party Minority party   Leader Nichi Vendola Raffaele Fitto Party PRC Forza Italia Alliance The Union House of Freedoms Last election 22 seats, 43.5% 38 seats, 54.0% Seats won 42 28 Seat change 20 10 Popular vote 1,165,536 1,151,405 Percentage 49.8% 49.2% Swing 6.3% 5.8%
President before election Raffaele Fitto FI Elected President Nichi Vendola PRC

Politics of Apulia
Statute Regional Government President: Michele Emiliano Vice President: Raffaele Piemontese Regional Council President: Loredana Capone Elections Political parties Provinces
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The Apulian regional election of 2005 took place on 3–4 April 2005.

Nichi Vendola (Communist Refoundation Party) defeated incumbent Raffaele Fitto (Forza Italia). The success of Vendola came somewhat unexpected. In a Southern Italian Region, expected to be morally conservative, Vendola, a communist and homosexual, defeated Fitto, a conservative Christian democrat. Vendola was the first candidate ever to be appointed by its coalition through a primary election instead of agreements between parties. A defeat of Vendola might have resulted in a cancellation of the primary election of The Union for choosing the candidate for Prime Minister in the 2006 general election.

Centre-left primary election

The centre-left candidate was chosen through primary elections, which were won by surprise by Nichi Vendola.^[1]

Results

3–4 April 2005 Apulian regional election results

Candidates		Votes	%	Seats	Parties		Votes	%	Seats
	Nichi Vendola	1,165,536	49.84	1
						Democrats of the Left	356,369	16.63	14
						Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy	208,806	9.74	8
						Communist Refoundation Party	109,146	5.09	4
						Italian Democratic Socialists	86,096	4.01	3
						Union of Democrats for Europe	70,293	3.28	3
						The Apulian Spring	55,335	2.58	3
						Party of Italian Communists	48,141	2.24	2
						Autonomist Socialists – PSDI – MRE	47,511	2.22	2
						Italy of Values	38,120	1.78	1
						Federation of the Greens	33,309	1.55	1
						United Democratic Christians	8,397	0.39	–
						Pensioners' Party	3,959	0.18	–
					Total		1,065,752	49.69	41
	Raffaele Fitto	1,151,405	49.24	1
						Forza Italia	381,663	17.80	10
						National Alliance	259,563	12.10	7
						Apulia First of All	196,281	9.15	5
						Union of Christian and Centre Democrats	167,038	7.79	4
						New PSI – PRI	48,109	2.24	1
						Social Idea Movement	10,099	0.47	–
					Total		1.062.753	49.55	27
	Gianfelice Galassi	10,973	0.47	–		Social Alternative	9,368	0.44	–
	Luca Scalabrini	10,477	0.45	–		Christian Democracy	6,791	0.32	–
Total candidates		2,338,391	100.00	2	Total parties		2,144,664	100.00	68
Source: Ministry of the Interior – Historical Archive of Elections