In the 1996 general elections the centre-left coalition led by Romano Prodi performed strongly in nearly all the urban centers across Italy and especially in the city of Rome.

During the previous years, the incumbent mayor Francesco Rutelli saw his personal popularity increase among Roman citizens.

As a part of his plan to renovate the city, in March 1995 Rutelli submitted an unsuccessful bid to host the 2004 Summer Olympics, which were ultimately awarded to Athens in September 1997.

[4] Against the mayor, the centre-right Pole for Freedoms coalition initially seemed intentioned to propose the candidacy of the right-wing deputy Francesco Storace,[5] but ultimately chose Pierluigi Borghini, a famous conservative businessman, in an attempt to gain more votes from independent and centrist voters.

Table below shows the results for each circoscrizione with the percentage for each coalition: Source: Municipality of Rome - Electoral Service