1979 Italian Senate election in Lombardy

Lombardy elected its eighth delegation to the Italian Senate on June 3, 1979. This election was a part of national Italian general election of 1979 even if, according to the Italian Constitution, every senatorial challenge in each Region is a single and independent race.

The election was won by the centrist Christian Democracy, as it happened at national level. Seven Lombard provinces gave a majority or at least a plurality to the winning party, while the agricultural Province of Pavia and Province of Mantua preferred the Italian Communist Party.

Background
For the first time the Italian Communist Party lost votes, after a period of terroristic attacks by the Red Brigades. Even the far-right Italian Social Movement was weakened. Between other minor parties, the Radical Party obtained its first seat.

Electoral system
The electoral system for the Senate was a strange hybrid which established a form of proportional representation into FPTP-like constituencies. A candidate needed a landslide victory of more than 65% of votes to obtain a direct mandate. All constituencies where this result was not reached entered into an at-large calculation based upon the D'Hondt method to distribute the seats between the parties, and candidates with the best percentages of suffrages inside their party list were elected.

Results
!rowspan="1" align="left" valign="top"|Party !rowspan="1" align="center" valign="top"|votes !rowspan="1" align="center" valign="top"|votes (%) !rowspan="1" align="center" valign="top"|seats !rowspan="1" align="center" valign="top"|swing !align="left" valign="top"|Christian Democracy !align="left" valign="top"|Italian Communist Party !align="left" valign="top"|Italian Socialist Party !align="left" valign="top"|Italian Democratic Socialist Party !align="left" valign="top"|Italian Social Movement !align="left" valign="top"|Italian Republican Party !align="left" valign="top"|Italian Liberal Party !align="left" valign="top"|Radical Party !align="left" valign="top"|Others !rowspan="1" align="left" valign="top"|Total parties !rowspan="1" align="right" valign="top"|5,209,969 !rowspan="1" align="right" valign="top"|100.0 !rowspan="1" align="right" valign="top"|48 !rowspan="1" align="right" valign="top"|=
 * - bgcolor="#E9E9E9"
 * - bgcolor="#E9E9E9"
 * valign="top"|2,117,789
 * valign="top"|40.7
 * valign="top"|21
 * valign="top"|=
 * valign="top"|1,530,781
 * valign="top"|29.4
 * valign="top"|15
 * valign="top"|1
 * valign="top"|620,900
 * valign="top"|11.9
 * valign="top"|6
 * valign="top"|=
 * valign="top"|217,704
 * valign="top"|4.2
 * valign="top"|2
 * valign="top"|1
 * valign="top"|186,412
 * valign="top"|3.6
 * valign="top"|1
 * valign="top"|1
 * valign="top"|162,090
 * valign="top"|3.1
 * valign="top"|1
 * valign="top"|=
 * valign="top"|156,745
 * valign="top"|3.0
 * valign="top"|1
 * valign="top"|=
 * valign="top"|154,257
 * valign="top"|3.0
 * valign="top"|1
 * valign="top"|1
 * valign="top"|63,291
 * valign="top"|1.2
 * valign="top"|-
 * valign="top"|=
 * - bgcolor="#E9E9E9"
 * }

Sources: Italian Ministry of the Interior

Constituencies
!align="left" valign="top"|N° !align="center" valign="top"|Constituency !align="center" valign="top"|Elected !align="center" valign="top"|Party !align="center" valign="top"|Votes % !align="center" valign="top"|Others Gino Torri''' Italian Communist Party 28.3% Egidio Ariosto''' Italian Democratic Socialist Party 6.5% Gianfranco Conti Persini''' Italian Democratic Socialist Party 8.9% Renzo Antoniazzi''' Italian Communist Party 36.6% Maurizio Noci''' Italian Socialist Party 13.2% Giuseppe Chiarante Gino Scevarolli''' Italian Communist Party Italian Socialist Party 35.0% 13.4% Enrico Novellini''' Italian Socialist Party 14.9% Giovanni Malagodi''' Italian Liberal Party 9.7% Gianfranco Spadaccia''' Radical Party 6.0% Rino Formica''' Italian Socialist Party 13.8% Libero Riccardelli''' Italian Communist Party (Gsi) 30.9% Angelo Romanò''' Italian Communist Party (Gsi) 31.8% Rodolfo Bollini''' Italian Communist Party 38.1% Giovanni Bellinzona''' Italian Communist Party 34.0% Libero Della Briotta''' Italian Socialist Party 17.3% Modesto Merzario Attilio Spozio''' Italian Communist Party Italian Socialist Party 28.1% 13.7%
 * - bgcolor="#E9E9E9"
 * - bgcolor="#E9E9E9"
 * align="left"|1
 * align="left"|Bergamo
 * align="left"|Angelo Castelli
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|54.8%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|2
 * align="left"|Clusone
 * align="left"|Enzo Berlanda
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|62.1%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|3
 * align="left"|Treviglio
 * align="left"|Vincenzo Bombardieri
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|55.7%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|4
 * align="left"|Brescia
 * align="left"|'''Mino Martinazzoli
 * align="left"|4
 * align="left"|Brescia
 * align="left"|'''Mino Martinazzoli
 * align="left"|'''Mino Martinazzoli
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|44.9%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|5
 * align="left"|Breno
 * align="left"|Giacomo Mazzoli
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|54.2%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|6
 * align="left"|Chiari
 * align="left"|Mario Pedini
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|56.6%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|7
 * align="left"|Salò
 * align="left"|'''Fabiano De Zan
 * align="left"|7
 * align="left"|Salò
 * align="left"|'''Fabiano De Zan
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|48.0%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|8
 * align="left"|Como
 * align="left"|'''Luciano Forni
 * align="left"|'''Luciano Forni
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|42.0%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|9
 * align="left"|Lecco
 * align="left"|Tommaso Morlino
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|49.6%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|10
 * align="left"|Cantù
 * align="left"|Luigi Granelli
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|47.5%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|11
 * align="left"|Cremona
 * align="left"|'''Vincenzo Vernaschi
 * align="left"|11
 * align="left"|Cremona
 * align="left"|'''Vincenzo Vernaschi
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|39.6%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|12
 * align="left"|Crema
 * align="left"|'''Ferdinando Truzzi
 * align="left"|'''Ferdinando Truzzi
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|48.4%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|13
 * align="left"|Mantua
 * align="left"|'''Carlo Grazioli
 * align="left"|'''Carlo Grazioli
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|36.7%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|14
 * align="left"|Ostiglia
 * align="left"|'''Agostino Zavattini
 * align="left"|'''Agostino Zavattini
 * align="left"|Italian Communist Party
 * align="left"|42.7%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|15
 * align="left"|Milan 1
 * align="left"|'''Libero Mazza
 * align="left"|'''Libero Mazza
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|37.2%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|16
 * align="left"|Milan 2
 * align="left"|'''Giorgio Pisanò
 * align="left"|'''Giorgio Pisanò
 * align="left"|Italian Social Movement
 * align="left"|7.3%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|17
 * align="left"|Milan 3
 * align="left"|None elected'
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|18
 * align="left"|Milan 4
 * align="left"|Giovanni Spadolini
 * align="left"|Italian Republican Party
 * align="left"|7.9%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|19
 * align="left"|Milan 5
 * align="left"|Mario Venanzi
 * align="left"|Italian Communist Party
 * align="left"|32.1%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|20
 * align="left"|Milan 6
 * align="left"|'''Marina Rossanda
 * align="left"|20
 * align="left"|Milan 6
 * align="left"|'''Marina Rossanda
 * align="left"|'''Marina Rossanda
 * align="left"|Italian Communist Party
 * align="left"|33.7%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|21
 * align="left"|Abbiategrasso
 * align="left"|Ada Valeria Ruhl
 * align="left"|Italian Communist Party
 * align="left"|35.7%
 * align="left"|Ambrogio Colombo (DC) 36.3%
 * align="left"|22
 * align="left"|Rho
 * align="left"|Giorgio Milani
 * align="left"|Italian Communist Party
 * align="left"|37.7%
 * align="left"|Vincenzo La Russa (DC) 34.6%
 * align="left"|23
 * align="left"|Monza
 * align="left"|'''Vittorino Colombo
 * align="left"|23
 * align="left"|Monza
 * align="left"|'''Vittorino Colombo
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|39.9%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|24
 * align="left"|Vimercate
 * align="left"|'''Giovanni Marcora
 * align="left"|'''Giovanni Marcora
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|42.2%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|25
 * align="left"|Lodi
 * align="left"|'''Camillo Ripamonti
 * align="left"|'''Camillo Ripamonti
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|38.9%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|26
 * align="left"|Pavia
 * align="left"|Armelino Milani
 * align="left"|Italian Communist Party
 * align="left"|37.7%
 * align="left"|Angelo Cordara (DC) 34.1%
 * align="left"|27
 * align="left"|Voghera
 * align="left"|'''Carlo Lavezzari
 * align="left"|Voghera
 * align="left"|'''Carlo Lavezzari
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|37.4%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|28
 * align="left"|Vigevano
 * align="left"|Armando Cossutta
 * align="left"|Italian Communist Party
 * align="left"|43.2%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|29
 * align="left"|Sondrio
 * align="left"|'''Eugenio Tarabini
 * align="left"|Sondrio
 * align="left"|'''Eugenio Tarabini
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|51.5%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|30
 * align="left"|Varese
 * align="left"|'''Aristide Marchetti
 * align="left"|'''Aristide Marchetti
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|39.0%
 * align="left"|
 * align="left"|31
 * align="left"|Busto Arsizio
 * align="left"|Gian Pietro Rossi
 * align="left"|Christian Democracy
 * align="left"|42.4%
 * align="left"|
 * }
 * }


 * No senator obtained a direct mandate. Please remember that the electoral system was, in the other cases, a form of proportional representation and not a FPTP race: so candidates winning with a simple plurality could have (and usually had) a candidate (usually a Christian democrat) with more votes in their constituency.

Substitutions

 * Ambrogio Colombo for Abbiategrasso (36.3%) replaced Mario Pedini in 1980. Reason: resignation.
 * Vincenzo La Russa for Rho (34.6%) replaced Ferdinando Truzzi in 1981. Reason: resignation.
 * Angelo Cordara for Pavia (34.1%) replaced Giovanni Marcora in 1983. Reason: death.