The incumbent left-wing president
Nichi Vendola, who in 2005 surprisingly defeated a centrist in the centre-left primary election and then the outgoing President
Raffaele Fitto, was under attack by his own coalition. Vendola, a gay communist President in a fairly conservative region, would have found hard to get re-election in a time when the centre-right led by
Silvio Berlusconi was ahead of the centre-left both in Apulia and the whole country. Moreover Vendola, after having left the
Communist Refoundation Party in early 2009, instead of joining the
Democratic Party (PD), the largest party of the centre-left, started a small outfit named
Left and Freedom and launched his bid. The Democrats acknowledge that they needed a larger coalition in order to beat the centre-right and they were thus trying to convince Vendola to give up his bid and to endorse a more centrist candidate that could obtain the support of the
Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC) and
Adriana Poli Bortone's
I the South movement.
Michele Emiliano, Mayor of
Bari and PD regional leader, had been constantly mentioned as a possible candidate who would have received the support of the UDC. For her part Poli Bortone might have been interested in the race but her right-wing upbringing (she was a member of the
Italian Social Movement and of
National Alliance) would undoubtedly have stirred the left. In a succession of events between late December 2009 and January 2010, Emiliano turned against Vendola (whom he supported until then), asked his party's regional assembly to unanimously endorse himself. The assembly of the party was suspended because of clashes between Emiliano and Vendola supporters, then Emiliano accepted to contest a primary election with Vendola and finally withdrew from the race, leaving the PD without a strong candidate. Finally Vendola was chosen as candidate of the centre-left in a primary election on 25 January 2010.
The People of Freedom (PdL) of Berlusconi and former President
Raffaele Fitto subsequently chose
Rocco Palese, leader of
Forza Italia–PdL group in the Regional Council and former Vice President of Fitto, while the UDC launched Poli Bortone. ==Centre-left primary election==