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 and 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.