Six out of ten have already served as councilors in the two Brugnaro administrations. Many were top vote recipients, but among those with the most preference votes, two were excluded. The opposition claims that the new administration is “Brugnaro 3.0”
By Leonardo Bison
June 15, 2026
The new mayor, Simone Venturini made it clear: his new administration was chosen on the basis of an electoral mandate, and indeed, many of the most voted for councilors in the recent municipal elections are among the new councilors. But not all: Monica Poli, the top-ranking candidate for the League, was not included. And Paola Mar, second among the most voted for in the Venturini list, will have to settle for a position as delegated councilor. Matteo Senno, fourth among the most voted for on the Venturini list, but excluded from the list of council members, is likely to receive a position as president of the city council.
In general, Venturini had to combine his electoral mandate with his pre-election mandate and the agreements made with the parties that supported his candidacy and enabled his surprising victory in the first round. This is why four council positions went to Fratelli d’Italia, despite the party’s result being less than half that of the Venturini list, and so on. In this sense, beyond the numbers, the delegations also matter (the complete list is here).
Zaccariotto, Costalonga, Zuin, D’Anna, and Canton are confirmed
Let’s take a look at the names of those elected.
The deputy mayor is Francesca Zaccariotto, 64: she was mayor of San Donà twice and then president of the province of Venice with the League, before switching to Brothers of Italy (a decade ago) and serving as Councilor for Public Works in the latest Brugnaro administration. She was the most voted for FdI candidate in this election and will be responsible for security and local police. Also reappointed are League party member Sebastiano Costalonga (53), the former Councilor for Commerce, who retains his responsibilities, and Michele Zuin, 59, the former Councilor for the Budget in the two Brugnaro administrations, who enjoys strong support for Mayor Venturini. Despite Forza Italia’s poor performance (which disappointed in the elections with 2.5%), Zuin will have a significant responsibility: budget, subsidiaries, taxes, and water transport, which is separated from land transport.
The two councilors appointed in the final months of the Brugnaro administration to replace Deputy Mayor Andrea Tomaello and Councilor Laura Besio, who were elected to the regional council in November 2025, were also confirmed. Paolino D’Anna, 60, from the Venturini list (he received the second highest number of votes), will be responsible for employment, citizen services, and personnel. Maika Canton, 55, of the Fratelli d’Italia party, was confirmed in her responsibilities for education policies and school buildings and also secured the mandate for public transport.
New Faces, and Romor’s “return” to the Department of Culture
The difficult balance between the groups is also evident in the selection of the last two Fratelli d’Italia councilors. Alessandro Scarpa Marta, 56, who has been involved in the world of fishing and islands as a delegated councilor for years (he was born in Pellestrina), becomes Councilor for Fishing, Agriculture, and Toponymy: elected as a member of the Fratelli d’Italia party, he was a councilor in Brugnaro’s list during the last parliamentary term. Silvia Peruzzo Meggetto, 34, closely follows issues related to trade and the interests of business owners, but secured a less contentious mandate for Sports and Tourism. She was also elected in 2020 as a councilor in the Brugnaro list, but switched to the Fratelli d’Italia party in 2022.
The other councilors under the age of 40 are: Ermelinda Damiano, 39, president of the outgoing city council and a top vote-getter with the Venturini list, who received significant responsibilities for Housing, Social Cohesion, and Equal Opportunity; and Riccardo Brunello, 38, outgoing city councilor, the fourth-most voted for in the League, who received the Public Works mandate. Along with Peruzzo Meggetto, Brunello is the only new councilor to have never served as a delegated councilor or councilor (or president of the city council) in the two Brugnaro administrations.
The councilor position held by Paolo Romor (Venturini list), a 55-year-old lawyer, formerly councilor for Human Resources and Education Policy in the first Brugnaro administration, deserves a special mention. Somewhat surprisingly, he received a councilor’s seat for Urban Planning, Civic Advocacy, and Culture. This is a partial delegation to Culture, given that the mayor will retain the delegation for “cultural strategies.” The fact that this remains a difficult combination to explain is also confirmed by the fact that Venturini focused on it in his presentation of the councilors: “The idea of combining the responsibility for culture with that for urban planning responds to a specific vision,” Venturini emphasized. “A city is built physically, with buildings, neighborhoods, public spaces, and infrastructure, but it is also built through its identity, its cultural strength, and its ability to hold a community together.”
There is also continuity among the councilors: Giovanni Giusto and Aldo Reato held the same responsibilities in the previous council, while Massimiliano De Martin and Paola Mar were councilors in the last Brugnaro administration. The opposition’s criticisms, which speak of a “Brugnaro 3.0” administration, are unsurprising, but the voters’ mandate was clear in this regard, and, with a few exceptions, the councilors also personally earned great support from the voters.
Source: VeneziaToday
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