Italy's former deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini and his far right La Liga (The League) party came up far short of expectations in weekend elections, dashing hopes to taking control of government.

Salvini focused his coalition's attention on trying to flip Emilia-Romagna, a Leftwing bastion in the country's north that has been governed by the Left in one form or another since the end of World War II.  But a poll for state broadcaster RAI shows the region's incumbent president, Stefano Bonaccini of the center-Left Democratic Party (PD) leading with 48.2 percent of the vote while the League's candidate 45.9 percent.  An SWG poll put that spread further out a full ten points.

"Emilia-Romagna has sent a signal," said PD leader Nicola Zingaretti.  "Salvini knows how to talk about problems, but he doesn't know how to sort them out and the people have responded," she added.

Voter turnout in Emilia-Romagna was almost double that of 2014, which seems almost certainly because of "The Sardines", an anti-fascist, anti-far-right protest movement that came together specifically to oppose Salvini and La Liga.  The Sardines - so named because they jam pack public squares like their namesake canned fish - came together specifically to oppose the far-right axis of The League, the Brothers of Italy, and Forza Italy.

That throws a roadblock in front of Salvini's attempt to take control of the government after the League was ejected from government in September 2019 following Salvini's failed attempt to force snap elections.  But the path for one half of the governing coalition, the Five-Star Movement (M5S), is also a lot tougher.

In Calabria, the "toe" of the Italian "boot", M5S appeared to be destined for a loss against the right, making it harder for M5S to get anything done in parliament.