The centre-right in Reggio Calabria firmly holds its positions and resists the push of General Vannacci who, however, translates the polls into votes for the first time, going beyond the 8% assumed so far by the national surveys. Fabio Roscioli's victory is extensive. With 51.02% of the preferences, Frank Benedetto, candidate from the broad camp, is ahead of him, arriving at 36.59%, while Domenico Giannetta of Futuro Nazionale obtains 10.94% of the votes. Francesco Toscano, of Sovereign and Popular Democracy, stops at 1.44%. "Vannacci wanted his Saxony? In Reggio he took electoral stones", comments the president of the Calabria Region and national deputy secretary of Forza Italia, Roberto Occhiuto. The mayor of Reggio Calabria, Francesco Cannizzaro, uses the same words on the stage set up in front of Roscioli's committee, who together with Occhiuto has repeatedly claimed and underlined the reasons for choosing Roscioli for this round. But the general's comment is not long in coming and is an exultation for having broken the 10% barrier in the first elections with the FnV symbol. "Without ever having - says Vannacci - retreated by a millimetre" on the issues that are at the center of the party's programme, from remigration to stopping weapons from Ukraine. "We have just taken off - he concludes - you can continue to think about necklines".
The entire centre-right hails the victory as the result of unity, starting with the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who, shifting the focus from Vannacci to the centre-left, underlines how the coalition has established itself "on the very broad field of opposition". In fact, the front in support of Frank Benedetto included, among others, not only the Democratic Party and the Five Star Movement, but also the Reformist House, the Democratic Center, the Socialist Party, the Avs and the Communist Refoundation. For Meloni it is "a vote that once again rewards a compact, rooted coalition capable of speaking to the territories". All eyes are also on the turnout with the final figure at the closing of the polls of 22.34%. Four years ago, when voting was held in a single day for the general elections, it was 49.40%. But by moving the comparison to the other by-elections the scenario changes. This is explained by Lorenzo Pregliasco of Youtrend who observes how "the turnout, which seems very low, in reality" was "high for a by-election: among all the by-elections held by the Rosatellum this is the highest figure".
Furthermore, of the 345,788 eligible voters, 58,729 are resident abroad and this, naturally, affects the turnout percentage. "It is then - added Pregliasco - a particular constituency, in which the centre-right had won overwhelmingly in the previous elections, in which the yes vote had won in the referendum but, at the same time, there was a very felt threat from the right. Here Vannacci was nominating a former Italian with thousands of personal votes and, therefore, he could potentially create many problems. He didn't succeed. The centre-right was able to mobilize more than him". The former Italian player, and former group leader in the Regional Council, is Domenico Giannetta, who speaks of a test bench "abundantly passed". In agreement with him is the FnV deputy, Domenico Furgiuele, who reveals a background: "I am very happy because Mimmo Giannetta and I were given a mission by General Vannacci: to reach at least 8%", he says, underlining how the objective was achieved and exceeded. The center-left candidate Benedetto acknowledges the defeat and congratulates the winner, observing at the same time that there is "one fact that tonight, more than anything else, should worry us: abstentionism. Too many people have chosen not to vote, to no longer believe that their vote can change anything".
