ALEMANNO'S SUPRISING VICTORY IN ROME

Gianni Alemanno’s 2008 victory in Rome caused great surprise, given that up until a few hours before the election it seemed certain that he would become a minister in the new Berlusconi government, as it was generally assumed that the results of the battle for the Campidoglio were a foregone conclusion. For the first time, a politician belonging to a party originating from the old Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI, Italian Social Movement) took on the role of mayor of Rome. In 1993, Gianfranco Fini, then leader of the MSI, ran for mayor but was defeated in the second ballot by Francesco Rutelli himself. For the 15 years since then, the capital had been a stronghold of the center-left, which remained in power primarily due to the success of its mayors, Rutelli and Walter Veltroni (two terms each, even though the second term of the latter lasted only two years). In 2006, Alemanno was roundly defeated in the first round by Veltroni, winning barely 31.7 percent of the votes. How was such a reversal of support among the Roman electorate possible in little over two years?