The regional coordinator of the Azzurri relaunches the name of the budget councilor for the post-Brugnaro era. Zuin seconds the notion: “I’m aligned and ready.” Monday, February 23, a Venetian coalition summit will take place to try to find clarity on a choice for the center-right.
By Mitia Chiarin
February 22, 2026
“The entire center-right coalition has asked Luca Zaia to be the coalition’s candidate for mayor in Venice. But in the current situation, I would like to point out that, as Forza Italia, we already have a candidate, and that is Michele Zuin.”
Flavio Tosi, leader of Forza Italia in Veneto, has decided to stir up the waters of the Venice lagoon to shake up the Venetian center-right. The center-right clearly appears to be at an impasse these days, awaiting the decision of Luca Zaia, who is increasingly less inclined to run for mayor, and with Simone Venturini, Luigi Brugnaro’s trusted right-hand man, busy attending meetings and inaugurations throughout the city but without an official endorsement from the center-right coalition.
Thus, Tosi has intervened with a clear message to everyone. “If it is a question of identifying, as I believe, the best candidate, I repeat that Simone Venturini is not the only option. We are putting forward the name of Michele Zuin, who has a very high profile, has been a member of parliament, and has unbeatable experience. He is a strong candidate, with great experience and expertise, and a high political profile.”
Forza Italia’s proposal is also a clear invitation to speed up the final decision about the center-right candidate for mayor. Tosi himself confirms this. “It would really be appropriate to meet and decide together. Not only to discuss the names of mayoral candidates, but above all to lay down the programs, which I believe are always fundamental in an election campaign,” he explains.
He continues, “I hope we can meet soon, and if our allies have other candidates to propose, it would be best to discuss them all together at a table, going beyond the constant text messages and press releases that we have been exchanging between allies in recent months. Zaia, I repeat, is the candidate chosen by the entire coalition. But if it is not him, it is right to discuss it among ourselves.”
This is a very clear message to his allies, starting with Fratelli d’Italia and Salvini’s Lega, which are also part of the current majority governing Ca’ Farsetti. While Raffaele Speranzon, the new Veneto coordinator of FDI, explains that there is still time (“The vote is in three months. Party lists must be submitted by the end of April. Waiting a little longer is not a problem, but we certainly won’t wait too long,” he said in recent days), the Lega continues to insist on Zaia’s candidacy (Councilor Sebastiano Costalonga, formerly very close to Vannacci, has made no secret of his preference for the former president of the Region). Now, Forza Italia is playing its trump card and shaking things up.
Who is Michele Zuin?
Zuin, born in 1966, is the current Councilor for the Budget in the Brugnaro administration, a true Venetian, with a home on the Lido, where he lives with his partner and daughter. A successful accountant with an office on the island, he is the man who keeps the municipal budget in order. His political career has been at the forefront of the party that was once Berlusconi’s and is now led by Tajani.
In 1994, he became a district councilor and since 1997 he has been elected and re-elected to the city council. He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2005 to 2006.
Zuin’s reaction
Michele Zuin has accepted this endorsement with the attitude of a true soldier. He has offered few words, only those that are essential. “I have strict party discipline, and I can do no less than make myself available to Forza Italia if Tosi asks me to.” For him, it is an honor. “Of course, it’s for my city”, he says.
The wait wears on
Monday, February 23, will see the first meeting that could be a precursor to the final decisions of the center-right coalition. In Mestre, at lunchtime, the parties of the city’s governing coalition (Brugnaro’s Fucsia, FDI, Lega, Forza Italia) will meet to bring the electoral machine into focus ahead of the upcoming municipal elections.
These are days filled with tension and a desire to be noticed on the part of all the city councilors, who are ready to elbow their way into a place on the list of the various parties.
Source: La Nuova di Venezia e Mestre
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