Mussolini’s granddaughter, the most voted candidate in Rome’s municipal elections

Italians are the first to be surprised by what they themselves voted for: the granddaughter of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, Rachele Mussolini, obtained the highest number of votes in the municipal elections held in Rome on October 3 and 4. This is the result of the almost final vote count which was made public 48 hours after the end of the elections.

Rachele Mussolini, 47, is the candidate of Fratelli d’Italia (FDI), the far-right party which obtained more than 8,200 votes, according to the scrutiny of 97% of the tables.

Mussolini, elected for a second term as councilor, argues that her last name has nothing to do with her popularity. “The person is more important than his last name, regardless of his weight,” he assured the daily La Repubblica. “I have a lot of friends on the left,” said Romano’s daughter, the fascist dictator’s fourth son.

Her father was a jazz pianist and in 1962 he married actress Sophia Loren’s sister, María Scicolone, who was a singer and also wanted to be an actress. Rachele was born in 1974 and was Romano’s third daughter, the result of an extramarital affair between her father and actress Clara Puccini.

Romano is not the only one of the descendants of Italian dictator who entered politics and all did so through candidacies in right-wing parties, including Rachele’s half-sister, Alessandra, former MEP.

However, right-wing parties generally did not perform well in the latest local elections last weekend in Italy, as they lost elections in key cities such as Milan, Naples and Bologna.

At Rome, a second round is scheduled for October 17 and 18 between the right-wing candidate Enrico Michetti, lawyer and radio host, and the candidate of center left, the former Minister of the Economy Roberto Gualtieri. In the first round, Michetti obtained 30% of the vote, against 27% for Gualtieri, who is however the favorite, according to various polls.

mm / ds