Popular Support
The PdL has its strongholds in Northern Italy, and especially Lombardy and Veneto, and in some regions of the South, notably including Sicily and Apulia. Despite this, at the 2008 general election, the party was fairly stronger in the South than in the North, due to the big win of Lega Nord, which gained 27.1% in Veneto, 21.6% in Lombardy and 12.6% in Piedmont. In this respect the region where PdL scored best was Campania, with a surprising 49.1% in a traditionally centre-left region. At the 2010 regional elections Lega Nord passed the PdL in Veneto (35.2%) and in large chuncks of Lombardy, which was however the region in which the PdL scored best.
The electoral results of the PdL in the 10 most populated Regions of Italy are shown in the table below. As the party was launched in 2007, the electoral results from 1994 to 2006 refer to the combined result of the two main percursor parties, Forza Italia (FI) and National Alliance (AN).
| 1994 general | 1995 regional | 1996 general | 1999 European | 2000 regional | 2001 general | 2004 European | 2005 regional | 2006 general | 2008 general | 2009 European | 2010 regional | 2013 general | |
| Piedmont | 34.8 | 37.9 | 33.8 | 36.8 | 42.7 | 41.2 | 31.0 | 31.9 | 35.8 | 34.3 | 32.4 | 25.0 | 19.7 |
| Lombardy | 31.8 | 39.5 | 32.6 | 36.5 | 43.6 | 40.9 | 32.9 | 34.7 | 37.3 | 33.5 | 34.4 | 31.8 | 20.8 |
| Veneto | 31.4 | 34.7 | 28.8 | 34.3 | 40.2 | 40.5 | 33.6 | 30.8 | 35.8 | 27.4 | 29.3 | 24.7 | 18.7 |
| Emilia-Romagna | 25.5 | 28.5 | 26.6 | 29.0 | 32.6 | 33.5 | 28.2 | 27.1 | 28.8 | 28.6 | 27.4 | 24.6 | 16.3 |
| Tuscany | 27.3 | 32.2 | 30.1 | 30.4 | 35.2 | 34.7 | 28.7 | 27.9 | 29.5 | 31.6 | 31.4 | 27.1 | 17.5 |
| Lazio | 45.8 | 43.5 | 45.0 | 40.9 | 44.6 | 46.8 | 35.9 | 39.3 | 40.0 | 43.5 | 42.7 | 38.2 | 22.8 |
| Campania | 40.2 | 37.2 | 42.1 | 35.9 | 32.1 | 46.9 | 32.7 | 22.5 | 39.8 | 49.1 | 43.5 | 31.7 | 29.0 |
| Apulia | 27.3 | 41.1 | 42.5 | 40.7 | 44.2 | 45.4 | 36.4 | 38.9 | 40.5 | 45.6 | 43.2 | 31.1 | 28.9 |
| Calabria | 36.2 | 36.0 | 41.7 | 31.6 | 28.7 | 40.9 | 28.5 | 19.9 | 31.7 | 41.2 | 34.9 | 36.3 | 23.8 |
| Sicily | 47.6 | 31.2 | 48.6 | 38.9 | 36.4 | 47.4 | 36.0 | 29.8 | 40.0 | 46.6 | 36.4 | 33.4 | 26.5 |
| ITALY | 34.5 | - | 35.8 | 35.5 | - | 41.1 | 32.3 | - | 36.0 | 37.4 | 35.3 | - | 21.6 |
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Famous quotes containing the words popular and/or support:
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—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
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—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)