BERWYN—Renato Turano, chairman of the Board of Turano Baking Company in Berwyn, has won a seat in the Italian Senate following the Italian Elections that took place Sunday and Monday.
Word of the victory came from his son, Mario Turano, who serves as Director of Marketing for the Berwyn-based mega-bakery.
Senator-elect Turano, 70, is expected to return from Rome on Friday, Mario said, adding there are a lot of mixed emotions that come with the victory. As a seated senator, Turano will be required to spend considerable time in Rome, away from his family.
"He feels like he can change things," Mario said of his father. "In Italy, they have a lot of fiscal problems, more than here."
He's served on the Italian Senate before, having been elected in 2006 under the Italian General Labour Party, Unione. It was the first Italian election where Italian citizens living overseas were allowed to vote for their own representatives, who have full powers and vote for all legislation coming to the Senate.
Turano's constituency covers North America and Central America.
The Burr Ridge resident has dual-citizenship and is eligible to run for office. He ran again in 2008 but was defeated.
Mario Turano said his father is no stranger to the overseas travel that is required, having served in the Italian Senate before.
"A stewardess asked him about the 59 round trips he made in a year," Mario Turano said. "He told her he loved the airplane food."
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/N3XZCSQZ67G7CBKXUU47MBE5WM.jpg)