Who is Giovanni Manildo, the center-left candidate for the Veneto elections?

Venice, July 13, 2025 – "After the Veneto of one, let's build the Veneto of all." And the reference to Luca Zaia and the center-right that has governed the region for 30 years is purely intentional. Giovanni Manildo , a Treviso lawyer and former mayor of the capital of the Marca, will be the sole candidate of the broad center-left field.

Gathered around his name are the Democratic Party, Avs, Five Star Movement , Veneto we want , the Network of Progressive Civics (Veneto Vale), +Europa, Volt Europa, Psi and the Liberal Socialist Movement .

Italia Viva has not yet taken sides, but the broadest coalition since 2010 has gathered around Manildo's name.

"He's the right man," said Andrea Martella , regional secretary of the Democratic Party. "We're united while the others are divided." With the regional elections approaching, the Veneto center-left's political landscape has taken shape.

A long membership in the Democratic Party

Born in 1969, a civil lawyer with an office in downtown Treviso, Manildo has always had ties to the Democratic Party. A city councilor in the opposition in 2008, he became city secretary in 2009. In 2012, he won the primaries and in 2013 achieved a historic victory over Gentilini , ending twenty years of League domination in Treviso. In the runoff, he received a clear 55.5% of the vote: a result never achieved again in the city.

The years at Ca' Sugana: between squares, exhibitions, and tensions

As mayor (2013–2018), Manildo led a diverse administration, from centrists to the most radical left. He promoted the redevelopment of public squares, expanded pedestrian zones, and revitalized culture with the return of major exhibitions. But his tenure was not without friction: from controversy over the sponsorship granted to the Gay Pride parade , to contested construction sites , to the ever-sensitive issue of parking.

A figure of mediation, rigid in his principles but ready to compromise, his style was already that of a "combat panda", a nickname born during his years as an Alpine officer in Belluno and then taken up again in the 2013 campaign.

A bitter defeat, then silence

In 2018, despite expectations of re-election, Manildo was defeated in the first round by Mario Conte , and left active politics after six months in opposition. He is the only mayor of Democratic Treviso not to win a second term.

Today, at 56, Manildo returns to the political scene for the most difficult challenge yet: wresting the Veneto from a divided, but still very strong, center-right. Luca Zaia 's departure, due to term limits, changes the balance of power. Manildo has already announced a traveling campaign , touring town squares, hospitals, schools, and factories. The key issues: public health, youth employment, housing, the environment, and culture.

The challenge for Veneto, the coalition's statement

"Giovanni Manildo," the coalition declared, "is a capable and innovative administrator, an authoritative and credible figure, capable of speaking to the entire Veneto electorate. With him, we want to propose a new project for Veneto : a true alternative to the right, after thirty years of uninterrupted government."

Manildo's choice is consistent with the coalition's shared approach from the beginning: through open, participatory, and idea-driven discussion. A project for the Veneto region over the next five years that the region has long awaited.

"The priorities we are called upon to address today," the statement concludes, "are the revitalization of public healthcare, youth policies, the housing crisis, employment, the environment, culture, competitiveness, and the region's development. With Giovanni Manildo, we are nominating someone who has been able to unite, listen, and innovate, and who will do so even more by speaking to our local community, without barriers. Someone who will be able to embody the desire for redemption in a Veneto region that needs a future."