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Walter Veltroni
Democratic Party
Gianni Alemanno
People of Freedom
Municipal elections were held in Rome on 13-14 and 27–28 April 2008, at the same time as Italian general elections. The outgoing Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni (PD), was candidate in the general elections, so he resigned after only two years from the previous municipal election in Rome. The center-right candidate Gianni Alemanno, who was defeated by Veltroni in 2006, faced center-left candidate Francesco Rutelli who was chosen to head his party's list.
Control of the 19 municipi of the Italian capital was also to be decided in the elections. Of these, the center-left controlled 18 and the center-right one. 59 councillors were due to be elected in the City Council.
As a result of the election, Gianni Alemanno was elected on the 2nd round. The center-right controls 36 seats against for the center-left.
Following the defeat of Prodi's government in a January 2008 Senate vote, Veltroni led the Democratic Party into the April 2008 general election and resigned as Mayor of Rome on 13 February 2008 to concentrate on the campaign.
The center-right coalition was led by Gianni Alemanno (PDL), who was heavily defeatd by Veltroni in 2006; Alemanno rejected a formal alliance with the far-right party, but his critics emphasized that his victory was greeted by crowds of supporters, among them far right skinheads.
The center-left coalition was led by the former Deputy Prime Minister Francesco Rutelli, who has been mayor of Rome from 1993 to 2001.
The opinion polling were in favor of Rutelli, but on the second round Alemanno surprise won the election and became the first conservative mayor after the Second World War.