Article snippet: ROME — Center-right parties scored victories Sunday evening in runoff elections in more than 100 Italian towns and cities, a result that emboldened right-wing parties, raised the prospect of shifting coalitions and took the political temperature of Italy ahead of national elections expected within the next year. According to official results, candidates representing the center-right won many of the major contests, including in the northern port city of Genoa, a stronghold of the center-left for half a century. “Always more positive news, from many cities! Go, go, go!” Matteo Salvini, the leader of the right-wing and anti-immigrant Northern League, who campaigned vigorously for the winning mayoral candidate in Genoa, wrote on Twitter late Sunday night. In the complicated calculus of Italian politics, the local elections may have adjusted variables just enough to change national outcomes. Mr. Salvini is now expected to argue that he is someone to be courted, either by the center-right — once again led by a reanimated former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi — or by the leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, Beppe Grillo. Italian voters had a lot to think about. A slumping economy, frustration with the European Union and a seemingly incessant tide of migrants from North Africa converged on voters on Election Day, which took place as the center-left government worked to avoid another banking crisis. Some analysts argued that local concerns more than nat... Link to the full article to read more