Rachele Mussolini, the granddaughter of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, obtained the highest number of votes in the municipal elections in Rome, Sunday and Monday October 3 and 4, according to an almost final count on Wednesday.
At 47, candidate of the far-right party Fratelli d'Italia (FDI), obtained more than 8,200 votes after counting the ballots in more than 97% of the polling stations, which represents the highest individual score among all the candidates in the running.
Read also Italy: resignation of a secretary of state wanting to baptize a park "Mussolini"
Already a city councilor, Rachele Mussolini insisted that her last name had nothing to do with her popularity.
“
The person is more important than his last name, however heavy it is
,” she told
La Repubblica
newspaper
, adding: “
I have a lot of friends on the left
”.
Romano, Rachele's late father, was a jazz pianist and the brother-in-law of actress Sophia Loren.
He was the fourth child of Benito Mussolini.
Other descendants of the Italian dictator have entered politics, all for the right, including Rachele's half-sister Alessandra, a former member of the European Parliament.
A disappointing score for the right
Right-wing parties performed relatively poorly in Sunday and Monday's local elections in Italy, losing mayoral races in key cities like Milan, Naples and Bologna.
In Rome, a second round is scheduled for October 17 and 18 between the right-wing candidate Enrico Michetti, lawyer and radio host, and the center-left candidate, the former finance minister Roberto Gualtieri.
In the first round, Enrico Michetti obtained 30% of the vote, against 27% for Roberto Gualtieri who is however given favorite for the second round, according to several polls.