[3][4] Six candidates were successfully nominated to stand in the Club's Conventions, held in January: Nicola Zingaretti, Maurizio Martina, Roberto Giachetti, Francesco Boccia, Dario Corallo and Maria Saladino.

The registration on the local branch closed on 28 November but it is still possible, if the member enrolled in for the previous year, to renew their membership of the party until the day their Circle Convention takes place.

[12][17] In the 2018 general election the Democratic Party, led by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, obtained its worst result ever: 18.7% of the vote, well behind the Five Star Movement (32.7%) and narrowly ahead of the League (17.4%).

[18] After two months of negotiations and the refusal of the PD to join forces with the M5S,[19] the latter and the League formed a yellow-green government, under Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, a M5S-proposed independent.

[29] He is considered a social democrat and one of the most prominent members of the PD's left-wing;[30] for his leftist ideas, some journalists and political analysts compared him to Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn.

[40] Richetti is considered a centrist and social liberal politician; he is also the leader of Harambee, a PD faction founded in April 2018 with roots in the Christian left.

[47] Boccia has been a long-time opponent of Renzi and Gentiloni and a close advisor of Michele Emiliano, current governor of Apulia region and former candidate in the 2017 leadership election.

[50][51] Minniti was a former member of the Italian Communist Party, however while in office, he promoted restricted policies on immigration and social security,[52] for which he has been often criticized by left-wing intellectuals and writers, like Roberto Saviano.

[58] On the next day of the Democratic National Committee meeting on 23 November, member of the Chamber of Deputies Lia Quartapelle launched a petition to move up the date of the primary election to January instead of 3 March.

The proposal met the support of the former Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Marianna Madia, Carlo Calenda Debora Serracchiani, Pierfrancesco Majorino and the Mayor of Bergamo, Giorgio Gori.

[61][62] The day before his withdrawal, Graziano Delrio, former Minister of Infrastructures and Transports, appealed Richetti on Facebook to endorse Martina's candidacy.

On 11 December, Cesare Damiano withdrew from the race, endorsing Zingaretti, stating that his choice was motivated by a sense of unity and responsibility towards the party.

They are both strong supporter of Matteo Renzi, that, after Minniti's retirement, refused to endorse another candidate and decided to run themselves, aiming to represent all the renziani area.

Former Luciano Andreotti,[107] Gianluca Angelelli,[107] Alberto Bellelli,[107] Maino Benatti,[107] David Bussagli,[107] Emanuele Crestini,[107] Simone Cretaro,[107] Giacomo Cucini,[107] Enzo Cuomo [it],[107] Francesco De Rebotti,[107] Paolo Festa,[107] Emiliano Fossi,[107] Alessandro Franchi,[107] Giuseppe Germani,[107] Matteo Gozzoli,[107] Ilenia Malavasi,[107] Maurizio Mangialardi,[109] Nicola Marini,[107] Vito Marotta,[107] Simone Millozzi,[107] Esterino Montino,[107] Giuseppe Morini,[107] Giulia Mugnai,[107] Federica Nannetti,[107] Lorenzo Piazzai,[107] Antonio Pompeo,[107] Mario Pupillo,[107] Stefano Reggianini,[107] Pierluigi Sanna,[107] Roberto Solomita,[107] Pietro Tidei [it],[107] Alfio Todini[107] Silvana Amati,[109] Gianni Cuperlo, Paolo D'Erasmo,[110] Francesco De Angelis,[111] Stefania Gasparini,[112] Elisabetta Gualmini,[113] Carlo Guccione,[114] Vincenzo Insardà,[115] Antonio Mastrovincenzo,[109] Michele Mirabello,[116] Giuliano Pisapia,[117][118] Francesca Puglisi [it],[119] Marina Sereni,[120][121] Liana Serrani [it][122] Carla Cantone [it],[133]Stefano Ceccanti [it], Andrea De Maria [it],[134] Emanuele Fiano, Lorenzo Guerini, Matteo Orfini, Luca Rizzo Nervo [it],[135] Ettore Rosato, Debora Serracchiani,[136] Diego Zardini [it][137] Vincenzo D'Arienzo [it],[137] Andrea Marcucci, Tommaso Nannicini [it],[138] Matteo Richetti Maria Saladino[140] Mauro Berruto Michele Anzaldi [it], Anna Ascani,[143] Luigi Marattin Enrico Morando [it], Sandro Gozi[144] Anna Ascani,[149]Stefano Ceccanti [it],[150] Piero De Luca,[151] Emanuele Fiano,[152][153] Lorenzo Guerini,[150] Gennaro Migliore,[154] Alessia Morani,[155][156] Alberto Pagani [it] [157] Alessandro Alfieri [it],[159] Gianni Pittella[150][160][161] Stefano Esposito [it],[162] Claudio Moscardelli [it][163] Giancarlo Acerbi,[166] Pietro Amitrano,[166] Vincenzo Ascione,[166] Angela Bagni,[166] Sergio Batino,[166] Giuseppe Bencivenga,[166] Rodolfo Bertoli,[166] Cristian Betti,[166] Ciro Bonajuto,[166] Saverio Bosco,[166] Mario Bruno,[166] Giuseppe Canfora,[166] Giorgio Cangiano,[166] Pino Capalbo,[166] Santo Caruso,[166] Claudio Castello,[166] Andrea Cereser,[166] Giuseppe Cirillo,[166] Rosalba Piera Colombo,[166] Isabella Conti,[166] Adamo Coppola,[166] Alberto Crisianini,[166] Francesco Del Deo,[166] Marco Antonio Del Prete,[166] Antonino Di Fuardo,[166] Sergio Di Raimo,[166] Enzo Ferrandino,[166] Francesco Fiordomo,[166] Filippo Frittelli,[166] Pasquale Fuccio,[166] Vittorio Gabbanini,[166] Enrico Ioculano,[166] Samuele Lippi,[166] Maurilio Longhin,[166] Vincenzo Magra,[166] Giacomo Mangoni,[166] Dario Mantovani,[166] Marco Mazzanti,[166] Francesco Menna,[166] Paolo Micheli,[166] Francesco Miglio,[166] Rocchino Muliere,[166] Sebastian Nicoli,[166] Fabrizio Pagani,[166] Maria Rosa Pavanello,[166] Massimiliano Pescini,[166] Alberto Polo,[166] Massimiliano Presciutti,[166] Stefania Proietti,[166] Simone Pugnaloni,[166] Rosaria Punzo,[166] Santi Rando,[166] Aurelio Russo,[166] Dimitri Russo,[166] Antonio Sabino,[166] Angelo Sbrocca,[166] Clara Scapin,[166] Alessio Spinelli,[166] Palmiro Ucchielli,[166] Francesca Valenti,[166] Gianfranco Valiante,[166] Franco Zaccaria,[166] Ermanno Zacchetti,[166] Giorgio Zinno.

[166] Fabiano Amati,[92] Nicola Irto,[168] Marco Leonardi,[169] Giacomo Mancini [it],[170] Pietro Mannoni,[171] Mino Mortaruolo,[148] Marcella Zappaterra[172] Giuseppe Vacca, philosopher and historian[92]