2005 Apulian regional election
The Apulian regional election of 2005 took place on 3–4 April 2005.
Nichi Vendola defeated incumbent Raffaele Fitto. The success of Vendola came somewhat unexpected. In a Southern Italian Region, expected to be morally conservative, Vendola, a communist and homosexual, defeated Fitto, a conservative Christian democrat. Vendola was the first candidate ever to be appointed by its coalition through a primary election instead of agreements between parties. A defeat of Vendola might have resulted in a cancellation of the primary election of The Union for choosing the candidate for Prime Minister in the 2006 general election.Results
