Dario De Luca (born 26 July 1956) is an Italian politician. A member of the right-wing party Brothers of Italy, De Luca was elected mayor of Potenza on 8 June 2014 and took office on 23 June 2014. He was the first right-wing mayor of Potenza, the first to come from the centre-right coalition, and the first Brothers of Italy member to become mayor of a regional capital in Italy. Despite this, he was able to attract the support of the opposition, having to rely on them to have a majority in the city council. In early 2015, De Luca initially resigned but soon retracted after gaining support in the city council. He did not run for re-election in 2019.

Dario De Luca
Mayor of Potenza
In office
23 June 2014 – 20 June 2019
Preceded byVito Santarsiero
Succeeded byMario Guarente
Personal details
Born (1956-07-26) 26 July 1956 (age 68)
Potenza, Italy
Political partyBrothers of Italy
Alma materPolytechnic University of Turin
ProfessionEngineer

Early life and career

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De Luca was born in Potenza,[1][2] where he obtained a diploma from the liceo scientifico named after Galileo Galilei. On 24 July 1979, he graduated with top marks in Civil Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin. On 24 March 1980, he registered to the Order of the Engineers of the Province of Potenza and started his career as a libero professionista (self-employed) in the field of civil engineering. In the 2010 Basilicata regional election, De Luca's electoral list I Love Lucania supported the unsuccessful president of Basilicata candidacy of Magdi Allam.[3]

Mayor of Potenza

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For the 2014 Italian local elections, De Luca was chosen as the centre-right coalition candidate for mayor of Potenza.[4][5] He spoke of "a radical change" and of "liberating the city from mediocrity, arrogance, and more or less occult forms of power, where it is not clear what the left is and what the right is", and stated that "another Potenza [referencing the name of one of the electoral lists in his support, Another Potenza] is possible".[6] During the presentation of his coalition's program, De Luca stated that his was "a program made of concrete proposals and real programs, not electoral proclamations", with "candidates who bring their professionalism to the table".[7]

In the runoff on 8 June 2014, overturning the result of the first round,[8] De Luca defeated the favourite Luigi Petrone of the Democratic Party-led centre-left coalition with 58.54% of the votes, despite having a minority in the city council. The first representative of Brothers of Italy to be elected mayor in a provincial capital, De Luca was the first right-wing major of Potenza in the history of the Italian Republic, and he also became the first centre-right coalition's mayor of Potenza.[9] His win was seen as an upset and De Luca likened himself and his upset win to David and Goliath.[10][11][12] During his mandate, De Luca worked together with the city council on the reorganization of urban transport (escalators and buses),[13][14] the redevelopment of the pavements of the old town,[15][16] and the installation of the latest generation synthetic turf and the renovation works to obtain the suitability for Serie C of the Alfredo Viviani Stadium,[17][18][19] the home ground of Potenza Calcio.[20][21][22] Thanks to the implementation of waste collection, Potenza achieved 65% of waste sorting, the first regional capital in Italy to do so.[23][24][25]

In January 2015, De Luca announced his resignation,[26] citing the financial distress, which began on 20 November 2014,[27] and the lack of a majority in the city council as reasons;[28] at the national level, he also criticized the Nazareno Pact [it] and Lega Nord.[29] In February 2015, he withdrew his resignation,[30][31] citing the majority support he received in the city council,[32][33] and called for Potenza to receive the help given by the Italian state to Alessandria.[34] In 2019, following an initial desire to run again,[35][36][37] he decided not to run for a second term. He was succeeded by fellow centre-right coalition member Mario Guarente.[38][39][40]

References

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  1. ^ "Dario De Luca". Dipartimento per gli Affari Interni e Territoriali (in Italian). 2014. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Dario De Luca". Comune di Potenza (in Italian). 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  3. ^ Lorusso, Sara (11 March 2010). "Minacce a Dario De Luca". Il Quotidiano del Sud (in Italian). Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  4. ^ Basile, Nico (6 April 2014). "Comunali Potenza 2014: FDI sostiene Dario De Luca". Trmtv.it (in Italian). Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Comuni: Potenza; il ballottaggio sarà tra Petrone e De Luca". Regione Basilicata (in Italian). 27 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  6. ^ "L'Altra Potenza presenta il candidato De Luca". Basilicata24 (in Italian). 23 April 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Chi è Dario De Luca candidato sindaco Potenza". Lettera43 (in Italian). 7 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Comune di Potenza – Basilicata – Ballottaggio – Elezioni comunali 25 maggio 2014". La Repubblica. 9 June 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ "Dario De Luca". Agenzia ANSA (in Italian). 9 June 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Clamoroso: De Luca è sindaco di Potenza". Agenzia ANSA (in Italian). 9 June 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Potenza, la rimonta di De Luca". Il manifesto (in Italian). 9 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  13. ^ Gramigna, Agostino (20 February 2018). "Potenza, scale mobili in crisi 'Piove dentro e si fermano'". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  14. ^ Martino, Anna (22 February 2018). "Potenza, scale mobili mal funzionanti e fatiscenti: è scontro politico". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Potenza, saranno presentati oggi i lavoro di riqualificazione del centro storico!". Potenza News (in Italian). 15 June 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  16. ^ "Riqualificazione vicoli Potenza − Centro storico". Valori Scarl (in Italian). 1 April 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Campo di gioco stadio Viviani di Potenza più piccolo, consigliere Galella scrive al sindaco De Luca". SassariLive (in Italian). 21 September 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  18. ^ Martino, Anna (15 December 2017). "Potenza, sei milioni e mezzo di euro per lo stadio Viviani". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  19. ^ Martino, Anna (18 May 2018). "Potenza, ammodernamento stadio Viviani: il Comune scrive al governo regionale". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  20. ^ Sabatella, Rocco (22 September 2016). "De Luca mette fine allo scempio del 'Viviani'". Talenti Lucani – Passaggio a Sud (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  21. ^ "Potenza: il glorioso stadio Alfredo Viviani si fa ancora più bello". Potenza News (in Italian). 18 November 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  22. ^ "Potenza, a breve il manto sintetico dello stadio 'Viviani' si rifarà il trucco". Tutto Potenza (in Italian). 16 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  23. ^ "Potenza miglior capoluogo d'Italia sulla raccolta differenziata secondo questa indagine! Per 'Comuni Ricicloni'..." Potenza News (in Italian). 2 March 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  24. ^ "Raccolta differenziata 2019, Potenza primo capoluogo d'Italia sopra il 65 %". SassiLive (in Italian). 18 December 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  25. ^ Basile, Nico (18 December 2019). "Raccolta differenziata rifiuti. Potenza al 65%, primo capoluogo d'Italia". Trmtv.it (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  26. ^ "Dimissioni sindaco De Luca, la comunicazione al prefetto". Regione Basilicata (in Italian). 26 January 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  27. ^ Palomba, Sergio (26 January 2015). "Si è dimesso il sindaco di Potenza, Dario De Luca". Trmtv.it (in Italian). Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  28. ^ "Dimissioni sindaco De Luca, la comunicazione al prefetto". Regione Basilicata (in Italian). 15 February 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  29. ^ "Si è dimesso Dario De Luca, sindaco di Potenza". Il Metapontino (in Italian). 26 January 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  30. ^ "Sindaco di Potenza: dimissioni ritirate". Agenzia ANSA (in Italian). 14 February 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  31. ^ "Il sindaco di Potenza ritira le dimissioni". La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno (in Italian). 14 February 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  32. ^ Sarli, Margherita (14 February 2015). "Potenza. Dario De Luca resta il sindaco della città. 'Siamo in corsa, ce la faremo'". Trmtv.it (in Italian). Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  33. ^ "Comune PZ, Ass. Salvia su ritiro dimissione sindaco De Luca". ANCI (in Italian). 14 February 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  34. ^ "Comuni – Potenza, sindaco ritira dimissioni: 'Resto in corsa per ricostruire la città, Stato ci aiuti come per Alessandria'". ANCI (in Italian). 16 February 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  35. ^ "Indiscreflash! Dario De Luca si ricandida a sindaco di Potenza?". Angeloma (in Italian). 28 March 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  36. ^ Pesarini, Rocco (29 March 2019). "Intervista a Dario De Luca: si ricandida?". Talenti Lucani – Passaggio a Sud (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  37. ^ "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.
  38. ^ "Potenza, proclamazione e passaggio di consegne per il nuovo sindaco Guarente". Basilicata24 (in Italian). 20 June 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  39. ^ Moliterni, Ferdinando (20 June 2019). "Finita l'era De Luca, il tricolore a Guarente". Le Cronache Lucane (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  40. ^ "Duplice omicidio colposo, arringhe finite: De Luca rischia il processo". Le Cronache Lucane (in Italian). 23 June 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
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Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Potenza
2014-2019
Succeeded by