Massimo Bitonci (born 24 June 1965) is an Italian Venetist politician. Born in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, he is a member of Liga Veneta–

Lega Nord Lega Nord (LN; ), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing politics, right-wing, federalism, federalist, populism, populist and conservatism, conservative list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. In the run-up to the 201 ...

, of which he served as national president since 2016. In 1993, he joined Lega Nord and was deputy mayor of Cittadella from 1994 to 2002. During his second term, he followed mayor Lucio Facco into Liga Veneta Repubblica (LVR). With the support of LVR, he ran for mayor in 2002 and was elected with 50.9% of the vote in a run-off, defeating Liga Veneta in one of its traditional strongholds. In 2007, Bitonci was re-elected mayor with the 56.5% of the vote in the first round. In that occasion, he was supported by a regionalist front composed of Liga Veneta, LVR, and some civic lists, which won altogether 51.7% of the vote. In the 2008 Italian general election in Veneto, Bitonci was elected to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

, where he sat in the parliamentary group of Lega Nord. He trailed the electoral result of the party in the

Province of Padua The province of Padua () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Padua. Geography It has an area of 2,142 km2, and a total population of 936,492 (2016) making it the most populated provi ...

, where Lega Nord passed from 7.7% to 24.1%in two years, and especially in Cittadella, where the party quadrupled its score from 11.6% to 42.2%. In the 2013 Italian general election in Veneto, Bitonci was elected to the Senate of the Republic, where he was appointed floor leader of his party. In June 2014, Bitonci was elected mayor of

(31.4% in the first round, 53.5% in the run-off). In November 2016, having lost the support of the majority of the municipal council, he was dismissed as mayor and the council was subsequently dissolved. In June 2017, Bitonci came first in the first round of the municipal election with 40.3% but was defeated by Sergio Giordani, a left-leaning independent, 48.2% to 51.8% in the runoff.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitonci, Massimo 1965 births Living people Lega Nord politicians Venetist politicians Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy Senators of Legislature XVII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVIII of Italy Mayors of Padua