Centre-right candidate Paolo Truzzu and centre-left candidate are running neck and neck in the race for the Sardinian governorship with a gap of just 0.6% with53.7% of the votes counted.
Truzzu, a member of Premier Giorgia Meloni's rightwing Brothersof Italy (FdI) party and mayor of Cagliari, is on 45.6% while Todde, former deputy head of the leftwing populist 5-StarMovement (M5S) and former deputy industry minister under MarioDraghi, is on 45 %.
The gap looks set to narrow further with the arrival of votes from the big cities like the capital Cagliari and Sassari where Todd has a healthy lead, while Truzzu is leading in smaller towns like Oristano and Olbia.
Tech magnate and fomer Democratic Party (PD) governor RenatoSoru is currently third on 8.1% and the last, leftist and regionalist candidate Lucia Chessa has about 1%.
The election is seen as a test of whether the 'broad field' alliance between the PD and the M5S can compete at a national level with the dominant right wing alliance of FdI, the League and the post Berlusconi Forza Italia (FI) party.
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