ANSA: Italy’s Lazio, Lombardy vote to elect new governors

In September, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) failed to form an alliance either with the left-leaning and formerly populist 5-Star Movement (M5S) or the centrist 'third pole' of Italia Viva (IV) and Azione (Az), leaving the field open to Meloni's coalition of her rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI), former anti-migrant interior minister Matteo Salvini's rightwing League party, and three-time former premier Silvio Berluscioni's centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party.
Things are a bit better for the centre left in these two regional votes as the PD has managed to team up with the M5S in Lombardy and with IV-Az in Lazio, but in neither region are the three centre-left parties running together, making the centre-right alliance of FdI, League and FI again the bookies' favoutites to win the regional government and the governerships.
In Lazio former Red Cross chief Francesco Rocca is leading the centre right against the centre left's Alessio D'Amato, former PD health councillor, who is bidding to extend the PD's 10-year tenure of power in the region around Rome in a coaliton backed by the PD and the third pole.
In Lombardy long-time incumbent governor Attilio Fontana of the centre right wants to extend the decades-long rightwing lock on power in the region around Milan, against PD candidate and former Milan city social policy councillor Francesco Majorino, who is backed by the PD and the M5S.
Voters were slow to the polls, which opened at seven am Sunday and close at three pm Monday, and turnout was about half last time's turnout at the same time Monday morning.
The first exit polls, expected to confirm big leads for the centre right, are set to be released when voting stations close at three pm.

Photo: ANSA