The 2025 Marche regional election in Marche, Italy, took place on 28–29 September 2025. The date was announced by Regional President Francesco Acquaroli, who stated the vote would be held in late September.
The contest featured incumbent President Francesco Acquaroli, a senator and former mayor of Potenza Picena, who ran for a second term as the centre-right coalitions alliance "Più Marche", which included Brothers of Italy (FdI), Lega, Forza Italia and seven other parties and civic lists. His main opponent was Matteo Ricci of the Democratic Party (PD), leading the centre-left "Alleanza del Cambiamento", an alliance of 19 parties and civic lists, including the PD, M5S, Italia Viva, PRC, +Europa, Volt and Europa Verde.
Acquaroli was first elected in 2020 with 49.13% of the vote and 20 out of 31 assembly seats, the first centre-right president in Marche's post-war history.
Background Electoral system The Region of Marche operates under a standard regional statute. Both the Legislative Assembly and the President of the Region are elected at the same time through a regional election.
The Legislative Assembly is composed of 30 seats, filled using a system of proportional representation with open lists and preferential voting. Voters may express preferences for individual candidates within the lists. The electoral system includes a 5% threshold, which parties must reach in order to gain representation. However, this threshold is lowered to 3% for parties running as part of a coalition. The use of panachage (voting across multiple lists) is not permitted.
The region is divided into five provinces, each electing between four and nine councillors depending on population. The assembly members are elected proportionally within these constituencies.
The President of the Region is elected in a single-round, first-past-the-post vote. Each presidential candidate must be affiliated with one of the lists running for the Legislative Assembly, effectively barring independent candidates.
The electoral law includes a majority bonus for the list of the elected president to ensure stable governance: If the president's list receives between 34% and 37% of the vote, it is awarded 16 seats. Between 37% and 40% grants 17 seats. More than 40% awards 18 seats. After assigning the bonus, the remaining seats are distributed proportionally among the other lists that passed the electoral threshold. Finally, the elected president automatically becomes a member of the Legislative Assembly, increasing the total number of members to 31.
+Seat distributionProvincesSeatsAncona 9Ascoli Piceno 4 Fermo 4Macerata 6Pesaro and Urbino 7President1Total31
Parties and candidates Presidential candidate Candidate Experience CampaignAlliance President of Marche (2020–present)Member of the Chamber of Deputies for Marche (2018–2020)Mayor of Potenza Picena (2014–2018)14 June 2025WebsiteCentre-right coalition(More Marche)MEP for Central Italy (2024–present)Mayor of Pesaro (2014–2024)President of the Province of Pesaro and Urbino (2009–2014)12 June 2025WebsiteCentre-left coalition(Alliance of Change)
Alleanza del Cambiamento CandidateElectoral listPrevious resultVotes (%)Seats Matteo Ricci Democratic Party (PD)25.117Five Star Movement (M5S)7.122 Greens and Left Alliance (AVS) - Marche Project Italia Viva Voice to the Marche New Marche - Base of Change (dissidents from Popular Base) Solidary Democracy Populars' Movement3.17 - Matteo Ricci for President PD individual members Possible - Forward with Ricci - Civic Project More Europe Italian Socialist Party Civic Marche Marche Reformists (dissidents from Action) Liberal Socialist Movement Italian Republican Party Volt Italy - Peace Health Work Depend on Us Communist Refoundation Party1.90 -Source
Più Marche CandidatePolitical partyPrevious resultVotes (%)Seats Francesco AcquaroliBrothers of Italy 18.67League 22.38Forza Italia (incl. Popular Base)5.82Union of the Centre2.21Marche Civics 2.01Marchigiani with Acquaroli Movement for Marche0.9 -Us Moderates Source
Other candidates Claudio Bolletta, supported by Sovereign Popular Democracy. Francesco Gerardi, supported by the Forza del Popolo list. Lidia Mangani, municipal councilor of Ancona supported by the Italian Communist Party. Beatrice Marinelli, supported by the Evolution of the Revolution list.
Regional Councilor candidates
Campaign On July 23, 2025, Ricci received a informing him that he was being investigated by the Pesaro prosecutor's office in connection with the "Affidopoli" investigation into alleged irregularities in the public procurement system that occurred during his tenure as mayor of the city.
Ricci denied the accusations, but despite this, the M5S requested clarification, and President Giuseppe Conte declared that he would read the prosecutor's case files against him to decide whether to continue supporting him in the elections. After the reading, the party reiterated its support for the candidate, arguing that there was no reason to do otherwise.
Subsequently, on 4 August 2025, in a centre-right conference held in Ancona during the electoral campaign, it was announced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that the Marche and Umbria regions would enter the ZES, a project aimed at economic development and which was initially dedicated exclusively to the southern regions, but now also extended to part of central Italy.
Debates DateLocationOrganizerLinkParticipantsSourceAcquaroliRicciBollettaGerardiManganiMarinelli28 August 2025AnconaUil MarcheVideoPIPINI NI NI NI12 September 2025TGR Marche Video PI PI PI PI PI PI25 September 2025RomeSky TG24VideoPIPI NI NI NI NI Present Invited Not Invited
Opinion polls On 26 September 2025, a fabricated opinion poll was circulated in the lead-up to the election, falsely indicating that centre-left candidate Matteo Ricci was leading over incumbent President Francesco Acquaroli. The poll, attributed to the polling institute SWG, was widely shared on social media, including by Democratic Party member, Alessia Morani, who referenced it in her posts. However, SWG publicly denied conducting or releasing the poll, stating it was a fake and reserving the right to take legal action.
Fratelli d'Italia responded by filing a formal complaint with Italy's communications authority, AGCOM, and the Public prosecutor's office in Ancona. Giovanni Donzelli, a prominent member of FdI, condemned the incident, calling it "a deliberate attempt to disseminate fake news during the election period".
Pollings Date Polling firm/Client Sample size Acquaroli Ricci Marinelli Mangani Bolletta Gerardi Others Lead Abstention Margin of error Total contacts Refusals Method 9–11 September 2025 Tecnè srl – BiDimedia 800 51.0 45.5– 3.5 5.5 10 ±3.5 5281 4281 (84.9%) CAWI – CATI 9–11 September 2025 IPSOS – Corriere della Sera 800 50.1 44.8 1.1 1.5 1.6 0.9– 5.3 15– 4249 – CAWI – CATI – CAMI 26–29 August 2025 BiDiMedia / Citynews – AnconaToday 1,000 49.6 47.5 0.3 1.0 1.3 0.3– 2.1 42 – 47 ±3.1 1856 – CAWI – Panel 11–12 July 2025 IZI S.p.A. 1,000 49.5 50.5– 1.0 36.3 – 36.6 ±3.0 – CAMI–CAWI 16–17 Jun 2025 Tecnè / Dire 1,009 50.5–54.5 45.5–49.5– 5.0 46 ±3. 6,343 5,334 (84.1) CATI–CAWI 10–17 April 2025 Tecnè / Corriere Adriatico 1,50052.0–55.0 48.0– 4.0–7.049– CATI-CAWI
Political parties Date Polling firm/Client Sample size CDX CSX Others Lead Abstention FdI Lega FI MpA Civici-McA Civici-UdC NM PD M5S AVS MRP AcR PSL PMMR 9–11 September 2025 IPSOS – Corriere della Sera 800 255.97.34.82.72.51.7 21.66.56.942.32.11.6 5.1 4.9 CDX 15 26–29 Aug 2025 BiDiMedia / Citynews – AnconaToday 1,856 26.17.76.44.12.91.81.0 25.26.15.64.32.31.02.6 3.9% 2.9 CDX 20 16–17 Jun 2025 Tecnè / agenzia DIRE 1,009 29.88.511- 21.811.86.2- 2.2 4.9 9.5 CDX 46
Outcome Results + CandidatesVotes%SeatsPartiesVotes%SeatsFrancesco Acquaroli 337,679 52.43 1Brothers of Italy155,54027.4110Forza Italia48,8238.603Lega Marche 41,8057.373Marchigiani for Acquaroli President24,1044.251Civics for Acquaroli President14,6802.591Union of the Centre10,8531.911Us Moderates9,2991.64–Total 305,10453.7719 Matteo Ricci 286,209 44.44 1 (0)Democratic Party127,63822.506Civic List Ricci for President41,6507.342Five Star Movement28,8365.081Greens and Left Alliance23,5654.151Marche Alive Project10,8721.92– (1)Civic Project Forward with Ricci8,1001.43–Peace Health Work6,3921.13–Total 247,05343.5410 (11)Beatrice Marinelli 6,302 0.98 –Evolution of the Revolution 4,867 0.86 –Lidia Mangani 5,039 0.78 –Italian Communist Party 3,388 0.60 –Claudio Bolletta 4,851 0.75 –Sovereign Popular Democracy 3,953 0.70 –Francesco Gerardi 3,916 0.61 – Force of the People 3,037 0.54 – Blank and invalid votes––Total candidates643,996100.002 (1) Total parties567,402100.0029 Registered voters/turnout–50.01Source: Marche Region – Results
Turnout Voter turnout Constituency Sunday, September 28 Monday, September 29Previous Election12:00 PM19:00 PM23:00 PM15:00 PM Ancona 9.60%30.08%37.72%50.41%60.50% 10.11% Ascoli Piceno 10.33%29.09%36.26%48.97%57.70% 8.70% Fermo 10.90%30.64%38.37%51.22%61.20% 9.95% Macerata 10.15%28.28%35.82%47.02%56.60% 9.58% Pesaro-Urbino 12.35%32.84%40.07%52.38%62.30% 9.89% Total10.59%30.23%37.71%50.01%59.75% 9.74%
Analysis Acquaroli defeated Ricci by 8 points, with greater support in southern Marche and a majority overall in the region, including 7 of the 11 cities with populations over 30,000. Ricci's support was concentrated in northern Marche, particularly in Ancona and his hometown of Pesaro. South of Ancona, he won in 13 municipalities, including Grottammare and Monteprandone, both with populations over 10,000.
While Ricci was elected as the second-place presidential candidate, he chose not to take his seat and remained in the European Parliament.
+Acquaroli V Ricci by province + Province Matteo Ricci Francesco Acquaroli Others Pesaro-Urbino 69,005 45.29% 78,226 51.34% 5,124 3.36% Ancona 98,901 49.85% 92,344 46.54% 7,160 3.61% Macerata 51,646 38.72% 77,186 57.86% 4,568 3.42% Fermo 27,575 37.13% 44,943 60.51% 1,750 2.36% Ascoli Piceno 39,082 45.67% 44,980 52.57% 1,506 1.76%
+Acquaroli V Ricci by major cities City Matteo Ricci Francesco Acquaroli Others Ancona 21,662 53.14% 17,673 43.35% 1,431 3.51% Pesaro 21,774 51.11% 19,143 44.93% 1,686 3.96% Fano 12,729 47.07% 13,547 50.10% 764 2.83% San Benedetto del Tronto 9,178 47.38% 9,822 50.70% 373 1.93% Ascoli Piceno 8,309 40.00% 12,102 58.26% 362 1.74% Senigallia 11,245 54.69% 8,671 42.17% 647 3.15% Civitanova Marche 7,284 41.17% 9,734 55.02% 673 3.80% Macerata 8,343 46.04% 9,129 50.38% 649 3.58% Jesi 9,482 55.29% 6,984 40.72% 684 3.99% Fermo 6,356 30.96% 10,454 60.79% 388 2.26% Osimo 7,077 47.24% 7,476 49.91% 427 2.85%
Elected councilors