| Election Name: | 2023 Democratic Party leadership election |
| Country: | Italy |
| Type: | primary |
| Votes For Election: | 600 delegates to the NationalAssembly of the Democratic Party301 delegate votes needed to win |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2021 Democratic Party (Italy) leadership by-election |
| Previous Year: | 2021 (by-election) |
| Election Date: | 26 February 2023 |
| 1Blank: | Members' vote |
| 2Blank: | Popular vote |
| 3Blank: | Delegate count |
| Nominee1: | Elly Schlein |
| Color1: | 009698 |
| 1Data1: | 52,637 (34.9%) |
| 2Data1: | 587,010 (53.8%) |
| 3Data1: | 333 |
| Nominee2: | Stefano Bonaccini |
| Color2: | B11226 |
| 1Data2: | 79,787 (52.9%) |
| 2Data2: | 505,032 (46.2%) |
| 3Data2: | 267 |
| Map Size: | 260px |
| Secretary | |
| Posttitle: | Elected Secretary |
| Before Election: | Enrico Letta |
| After Election: | Elly Schlein |
The 2023 Democratic Party leadership election was a primary election that was held in Italy in February 2023 to elect the National Assembly and secretary of the Italian Democratic Party (PD).[1] It consisted of a closed primary election among party members held from 9 to 19 February, and an open primary election held on 26 February.[2] [3]
Four candidates ran in the closed primary election held in circle conventions: Stefano Bonaccini, Gianni Cuperlo, Paola De Micheli, and Elly Schlein. Bonaccini and Schlein advanced to the open primary election, where Schlein won with over 53% of the vote, becoming the first woman and the youngest person to ever serve as leader of the PD, as well as the first openly LGBT leader of a major Italian political party.[4] The results of the election defied the predictions of nearly all polling firms, which had anticipated a Bonaccini victory.[5] It was the PD's first party leadership election in which the winner of the members' vote lost in the open primary.[6]
The process consists of two phases: a first round, in which only members of the PD can vote, and a second round, a runoff between the two candidates who got the most votes in the first round, in which every citizen who identifies with the party's ideals can vote. The PD is the only major Italian party that allows non-members to elect the secretary by open primary.[7]
The term of office of the secretary is usually four years, along with the National Assembly; when the former resign in advance, the National Assembly can choose whether to elect another secretary, who would serve until the natural expiration of the mandate is reached, or to dissolve the National Assembly itself earlier and call a new leadership election.[8]
After the outgoing secretary tenders their resignation, the party president must gather the members of the National Assembly within a month. On the same day, the National Assembly would elect the members of the National Committee for the Congress, which would act in place of the elected bodies until the end of the leadership election, whose main job is drafting the rules of the details procedure under which the leadership election is to take place. The National Committee also handles internal disputes and appeals relating to the leadership election.[9]
The National Committee elects its president and sets the rules and the dates, and lay them before the National Board. The election must take place within four months following the secretary's resignation.[8]
| Date(s) | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| The National Board elects the National Committee and the Commission for the Congress. Start of the primaries. | ||
| The National Assembly approves the Manifesto of Values and Principles. | ||
| Presentation of the candidacies supported by at least the 20% of the members of the National Assembly or by 4,000 members. | ||
| Enrollment on the local branch for new members closed. | ||
| Closed primaries take place in Circle Conventions. | ||
| Open primaries to elect the Secretary and the National Assembly. | ||
| The National Assembly announces the winner. |
On 20 February 2023, the following individuals were the two top contenders in the closed vote in party circles, thus entering the primary open to voters.
| Portrait | Name | Most recent position | Campaign logo | Slogan | Announced | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stefano Bonaccini (age) | President of Emilia-Romagna (2014–present) | (stefanobonaccini.it) | Energia Popolare (People's Energy) | 20 November 2022 | [13] | ||
| Elly Schlein (age) | Vice President of Emilia-Romagna (2020–2022) | (ellyschlein.it) | Parte da Noi (It Starts with Us) | 4 December 2022 | [14] | ||
On 20 February 2023, the following individuals didn't manage to get enough votes in party circles to enter the primary open to voters.
| Portrait | Name | Most recent position | Campaign logo | Slogan | Announced | Refs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gianni Cuperlo (age) | President of the Democratic Party (2013–2014) | (giannicuperlo.it) | Promessa Democratica (Democratic Promise) | 23 December 2022 | [15] | |||
| Paola De Micheli (age) | Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (2019–2021) | (paolademicheli.it) | Concretamente (Concretely) | 27 September 2022 | [16] | |||
The following individuals have been the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy, but have publicly denied interest in running.
| 2023 Democratic Party leadership election debates | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Organiser | Moderator | Present Invitee Non-invitee Absent invitee | ||||||||
| Bonaccini | Cuperlo | De Micheli | Schlein | ||||||||
| 22 January | Rai 3 (Mezz'ora in più) | Lucia Annunziata | P | P | P | P | |||||
| 20 February | Sky TG24 (Il Confronto) | Fabio Vitale | P | NI | NI | P | |||||
| Date | Polling firm | Sample size | Don't know | Lead | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonaccini | Schlein | ||||||
| Primary election | 46.2 | 53.8 | — | 7.6 | |||
| 23 Feb | BiDiMedia | Between interested voters | 38.0 | 31.0 | 31.0 | 7.0 | |
| 22 Feb | Euromedia Stat | Between interested voters | 48.2 | 13.5 | 38.3 | 29.3 | |
| 22 Feb | Euromedia Stat | Between PD voters | 55.1 | 21.2 | 23.7 | 33.9 | |
| 20–22 Feb | Demos & Pi | Between interested voters | 57.0 | 30.0 | 13.0 | 27.0 | |
| Between PD voters | 67.0 | 31.0 | 2.0 | 36.0 | |||
| 21 Feb | Izi | Between interested voters | 54.2 | 45.8 | 8.4 |
| Date | Polling firm | Sample size | Others – Don't know | Lead | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonaccini | Cuperlo | De Micheli | Schlein | |||||||||
| 19 Feb | Bonaccini and Schlein advance to open primary election De Micheli endorsed Bonaccini, Cuperlo leaves freedom of choice | |||||||||||
| 15 Feb | EMG | Between PD voters | 63.0–67.0 | 33.0–37.0 | 0.0Don't know 0.0 | 30.0 | ||||||
| 13 Feb | Intwig | Between PD voters | 61.0 | 39.0 | 0.0Don't know 0.0 | 22.0 | ||||||
| 11–12 Feb | Winpoll | Between PD voters | 43.7 | 56.3 | 0.0Don't know 0.0 | 12.6 | ||||||
| 25 Jan | Euromedia | Between PD voters | 54.0 | 6.3 | 7.8 | 18.1 | 12.8Don't know 0.0 | 35.9 | ||||
| 23 Jan | EMG | Between PD voters | 44.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 24.0 | 2.0Don't know 14.0 | 20.0 | ||||
| 17 Jan | Winpoll | Between PD voters | 46.0 | 7.0 | 6.0 | 41.0 | 0.0Don't know 0.0 | 5.0 | ||||
| 51.5 | 48.5 | 0.0Don't know 0.0 | 3.0 | |||||||||
| 16 Jan | EMG | Between PD voters | 41.0 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 23.0 | 3.0Don't know 14.0 | 18.0 | ||||
| 9–13 Jan | EMG | Between PD voters | 61.0–65.0 | 35.0–39.0 | 0.0Don't know 0.0 | 26.0 | ||||||
| 9 Jan | EMG | Between PD voters | 41.0 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 24.0 | 6.0Don't know 13.0 | 17.0 | ||||
| 2 Jan | EMG | Between PD voters | 43.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 23.0 | 10.0Don't know 8.0 | 20.0 | ||||
| Date | Polling firm | Sample size | Others – Don't know | Lead | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boccia | Bonaccini | Cuperlo | De Luca | De Micheli | Nardella | Provenzano | Ricci | Schlein | ||||||
| 23 Dec | Gianni Cuperlo announces his intention to run | |||||||||||||
| 19 Dec | EMG | Between interested voters | 45.0 | 9.0 | 25.0 | 6.0Don't know 15.0 | 20.0 | |||||||
| 8–12 Dec | BiDiMedia | Between interested voters | 57.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 39.0 | 20.0Don't know 20.0 | 18.0 | ||||||
| 7 Dec | EMG | Between PD voters | 65.0–69.0 | 31.0–35.0 | 0.0Don't know 0.0 | 34.0 | ||||||||
| 4 Dec | Elly Schlein announces her intention to run | |||||||||||||
| 29 Nov | EMG | Between PD voters | 32.0 | 11.0 | 15.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 17.0 | 12.0Don't know 12.0 | 15.0 | ||||
| 29 Nov | Euromedia | Between PD voters | 4.5 | 25.9 | 5.9 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 21.4 | 34.3Don't know 34.3 | 4.5 | ||
| 21 Nov | Demos & Pi | Between PD voters | 32.0 | 8.0 | 25.0Don't know 35.0 | 24.0 | ||||||||
| 20 Nov | Stefano Bonaccini announces his intention to run | |||||||||||||
| 19 Nov | Euromedia | Between PD voters | 4.5 | 25.9 | 5.9 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 21.4 | 34.3Don't know 34.3 | 4.5 | ||
| 30 Oct | Euromedia | 800 | 6.4 | 16.9 | 4.7 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 12.0 | 54.5Tinagli: 2.1 Others 4.7 Don't know 47.7 | 4.9 | |||
| Between PD voters | 4.6 | 22.9 | 5.7 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 26.1 | 37.9Tinagli: 2.1 Others 1.3 Don't know 34.5 | 3.2 | |||||
| 27 Sep | Paola De Micheli announces her intention to run | |||||||||||||
| Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stefano Bonaccini | 79,787 | 52.87 | ||
| Elly Schlein | 52,637 | 34.88 | ||
| Gianni Cuperlo | 12,008 | 7.96 | ||
| Paola De Micheli | 6,475 | 4.29 | ||
| Total valid votes | 150,907 | 100.0 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 623 | – | ||
| Total votes | 151,530 | 100.0 | ||
| Source: Partito Democratico – Results | ||||
| Candidate | Votes | % | Delegates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elly Schlein | 587,010 | 53.75 | 333 | ||
| Stefano Bonaccini | 505,032 | 46.25 | 267 | ||
| Total valid votes | 1,092,042 | 100.0 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 6,581 | – | |||
| Total votes | 1,098,623 | 100.0 | – | ||
| Source: Partito Democratico — results | |||||
| Region | Bonaccini | Schlein | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abruzzo | 50.3 | 49.7 | |
| Aosta Valley | 29.3 | 70.7 | |
| Apulia | 55.9 | 44.1 | |
| Basilicata | 61.5 | 38.5 | |
| Calabria | 64.5 | 35.5 | |
| Campania | 68.5 | 31.5 | |
| Emilia-Romagna | 56.4 | 43.6 | |
| Friuli-Venezia Giulia | 36.1 | 63.9 | |
| Lazio | 37.4 | 62.6 | |
| Liguria | 32.7 | 67.3 | |
| Lombardy | 34.9 | 65.1 | |
| Marche | 45.4 | 54.6 | |
| Molise | 69.4 | 30.6 | |
| Piedmont | 33.8 | 66.2 | |
| Sardinia | 57.1 | 42.9 | |
| Sicily | 43.2 | 56.8 | |
| Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol | 36.5 | 63.5 | |
| Tuscany | 38.1 | 61.9 | |
| Umbria | 47.9 | 52.1 | |
| Veneto | 36.3 | 63.7 | |
| World | 44.0 | 56.0 | |
| Source: Partito Democratico — results | |||