Salis’ most prominent initiatives as mayor have been progressive. Her first act was to register the births of 11 children born to lesbian couples abroad, blocked by her right-wing predecessor. She has opened a municipal office for LGBTQ+ rights and introduced a minimum wage for city contracts. She also backed pro-Palestinian causes.
Winning the center
But amid talk of a national role, she has increasingly shifted her politics toward the center, with a focus on mainstream issues surrounding health, labor, security and migration.
The left, she argued, must focus on “pragmatic, concrete” issues.
In a competitive contest on the left, Salis’ limited political experience could count against her, but she argued that she was adaptable. After all, she has taken control of one of Italy’s most important cities “by assembling a competent team and learning day by day, like anyone in a new job.”
Experience, she argued, came in different forms. She pointed to the discipline of elite sport and her work within Italy’s Olympic system, where she dealt with ministries, international partners and major events. “It exposes you to how an administrative machine works,” she said.
Italian politics is filled with mayors who seem poised for national roles, but success at the city level does not necessarily scale. Not everyone is a Matteo Renzi, who used his job as mayor of Florence as a springboard to becoming prime minister. 5Star Movement Mayor of Rome Virginia Raggi saw her credibility eroded by the realities of governing.