ROME – Centre-left candidate Roberto Gualtieri claimed victory Monday in a run-off election for mayor of Rome as exit polls showed him trouncing conservative rival Enrico Michetti, Democratic Party officials said. The centre-left also won in the Turin mayorial race with results in Trieste neck and neck.

An Opinio poll for RAI television gave Gaultieri 59.9 percent of the vote while Michetti was estimated to have 40.1 percent.

 “I will be the mayor of everyone in Rome, of the Romans and the whole city,” Gualtieri said. “Now we will begin an extraordinary job to re-launch Rome and make it more inclusive and to make the city function.”

 The run-offs followed outright victories earlier by the centre-left in mayorial contests for Naples, Bologna and Milan.

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