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Left-Green must fear for their seat in the small chamber. The FDP and the Center want to get back the seats they lost in 2019.
In the coming legislative period, the Ticino Council of States representation is likely to be purely male, more consistent in terms of content and clearly civil rights. In the past, the two Councils of States from the pole parties have canceled each other’s decisions. Former Councilor of States Marina Carobbio from the SP and SVP Council of States and party president Marco Chiesa had hardly any overlap.
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On April 2nd, SP Councilor of States Marina Carobbio was elected to the Ticino State Council. The race for the SP seat that has become vacant is open.
Keystone / SAMUEL GOLAY
Risk-taker Marco Chiesa
SVP party president Marco Chiesa is putting everything on one card: re-election to the Council of States. Unlike his competitors, he is not also running for the National Council. As a current candidate, he has a good chance of being confirmed.
Unlike in German-speaking Switzerland, where Chiesa’s performance is regularly questioned, he is very popular in Ticino, where his electorate is. He hasn’t made any missteps and is considered sociable. The topic also speaks in favor of his re-election: the relationship with Europe is a long-running issue in Ticino because of the numerous “frontalieri” from Italy and the southern canton is feeling the presence of refugees arriving at the southern border.
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Marco Chiesa has been a member of the Council of States for Ticino since 2019. The SVP president has a good chance of being re-elected.
Keystone / ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE
In addition, the Ticino SVP is the winner of the spring cantonal elections. In partnership with the Lega dei Ticinesi, it collected around 25 percent of the vote. The Lega is, at least on paper, united behind Chiesa and is not sending its own candidate into the race.
The FDP and the Center want to make up for the disgrace
The FDP and the center are eager to make up for their disgrace from 2019. At that time, the FDP lost its representation in Stöckli after 126 years of presence. She is now running with incumbent National Councilor Alex Farinelli. His chances are good because he is seen as an approachable consensus politician and could also receive votes from the left-of-center electorate.
Smartspider of the Council of States candidates
But the center, whose candidate Filippo Lombardi was pushed out of the small chamber by the Social Democrat Marina Carobbio in 2019 because of 45 votes, also wants to return to the Council of States. She competes with Fabio Regazzi. The trade association president and entrepreneur has been in the National Council since 2011.
It will be interesting to see how many votes the two middle-class top candidates National Councilor Alex Farinelli (FDP) and National Councilor Fabio Regazzi (center) can wrest from the current Marco Chiesa. A second round of voting is almost certain.
Left-green with a difficult position
After SP Councilor of States Marina Carobbio moved to the Ticino government, it will be difficult for the Left-Green Party to hold onto the Council of States seat.
The SP and the Greens are running together. However, the Social Democrats’ candidate, the previous National Councilor Bruno Storni, and the Green National Councilor Greta Gysin are in a difficult position. Left-Green only received around 20 percent of the vote in the cantonal elections. The southern canton is firmly in civil rights hands.
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On October 22, 2023, Ticino voters will elect their representatives in the National and Council of States. Here you will find an overview Backgrounds and assessments.