- After the election of the former incumbent Marina Carobbio to the cantonal government, the SP must defend its mandate in the Council of States.
- The FDP and the Center want to win back the seat they lost four years ago.
- At that time, CVP Council of States Filippo Lombardi was surpassed by Marina Carobbio with a difference of only 46 votes.
Lombardi sat in Stöckli for the then CVP (now the Center Party) for 20 years. The center party wants to make up for this disgrace with Fabio Regazzi. The National Council, which has been politicizing in Bern since 2011, is running for both the large and small chambers and should not have a bad starting position.
The situation looks different for Bruno Storni. The transport politician is supposed to defend the vacant seat in the Council of States for the SP, but only four years ago he replaced Marina Carobbio in the National Council. The Greens are sending their National Councilor Greta Gysin into the race despite their list connection with the SP.
FDP wants to go back to Stöckli
The FDP also lost its seat in Stöckli four years ago, to Marco Chiesa. The SVP President has been Ticino’s only member of the Council of States since April, as Marina Carobbio’s seat has been vacant since she was elected to the Ticino government. Chiesa is supported by the Lega dei Ticinesi, which has not put forward its own candidate.
With the National Councilor and President of the Swiss Trade Association Fabio Regazzi, the FDP is sending an established and well-connected politician into the race. Although Chiesa’s re-election is considered fairly certain, Regazzi, who is politicizing on the right-wing fringe, could steal a few votes from the SVP party president.
Legend:
In the southern canton, everything revolves around the Council of States this autumn election.
Symbol image/KEYSTONE/Peter Klaunzer
Given the open starting position, observers expect a second round of voting in the Ticino Council of States elections. This would take place on November 19th. It is likely that the middle-class canton of Ticino will send an SVP plus a center or FDP representative to Stöckli in the next legislature and the Left will lose its seat.
No new “marriage” after the election debacle
In the aftermath of the 2019 federal elections, there was talk on the civil side of a real “election debacle”. The Ticino FDP drew the conclusions this year and rejected the former sparring partner for a new list connection. However, it was said that they were open to “thematic cooperation” with the center party.
Although the SP entered into a list with the Greens, the two parties were still unable to agree on a joint candidate for the Council of States, which is likely to prove disadvantageous for the Left. Lega and SVP are also once again relying on a list connection.