Mario Calabresi poised to run for Milan mayor: “I want to take a new path”

Mario Calabresi has left the media company he helped build, and almost everything now points toward a run for mayor of Milan. The journalist resigned from every position at Be Water, which includes Chora Media, and sold his stake after six years and 420 podcast series.

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I feel strongly drawn to take a new path.

“I feel strongly drawn to take a new path,” Calabresi wrote on social media. He said leaving Chora was difficult and that he wanted to pause with emotion and gratitude to reflect on what they had built together. Be Water said he would move on to new activities outside publishing.

Calabresi has not formally announced a candidacy, but the announcement is expected soon. He could make it at the Milan Festa dell’Unità on Sept. 12, where he is due to appear, or possibly earlier. On July 22, speaking at a Democratic Party event near Milan, he had already said: “I am thinking about it. I would like to do my part for Milan.”

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After six years and 420 podcast series, I am leaving Chora. Writing this sentence is difficult and makes a strong impression on me.

The unresolved question is how the center-left, and particularly the Democratic Party, will choose its candidate. Milan’s party organization has generally favored coalition primaries, with the date and format expected to be decided with other parties in the coming weeks. Calabresi’s possible candidacy could change that plan. Action leaders Carlo Calenda and Pina Picierno called him “an excellent reformist candidate for Milan” and said he should be supported immediately rather than put through the “meat grinder” of a primary.

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I am thinking about it. I would like to do my part for Milan.

Europa Verde says the coalition’s boundaries and program should come before the names, although its Milan co-spokesperson Tommaso Gorini described Calabresi as an authoritative candidate. Other potential contenders include Democratic Party regional council leader Pierfrancesco Majorino, Deputy Mayor Anna Scavuzzo and Lorenzo Pacini, who has called for primaries to be convened quickly. Activist Tommaso Goisis also supports open primaries. The contest could become more competitive if Calabresi enters it.

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An excellent reformist candidate for Milan.