(Bloomberg) -- Brothers of Italy’s Marco Marsilio was reelected as governor of Abruzzo, handing a win to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and averting a second defeat in a regional vote in quick succession.

Marsilio, a close friend of Meloni’s, beat center-left candidate Luciano d’Amico with 53.5% of the votes, according to results published early Monday.

Sunday’s election in Abruzzo, which stretches from rugged mountains to the Adriatic coast, gained nationwide prominence after Meloni’s coalition lost last month’s ballot in Sardinia, the first sign of a slip in popularity since it took power at the end of 2022.

The premier personally campaigned for Marsilio last week in Pescara, the largest city in the region of around 1.3 million people.

The defeat in Sardinia, where Meloni’s candidate lost to Alessandra Todde, who was backed by both the Democrats and the Five Star Movement, was followed by a small drop in support for the ruling coalition in nationwide polls. Still, Brothers of Italy remains by far the most popular party.

Elected in 2019, Marsilio was the first Brothers of Italy candidate to become governor of an Italian region, at a time the party still was a minority group without any role in government. He’s been close to Meloni since well before she founded her party.

He’s been criticized while governor for his frequent travel back and forth to Rome, and has been perceived as insufficiently focused on the region’s issues, including a lack of investment in health care and addressing the high risk of earthquakes.

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