PM Silvio Berlusconi hates to lose.
He apparently will do anything to ensure his candidate's victory in Milano's mayoral run-off.
So he has trotted out the race card...warning that Milano would be turned into "Gypsytown" if his candidate, incumbent Mayor Letizia Moratti, is defeated.
"Milan cannot turn into an Islamic city, a zingaropoli [Gypsytown] full of Roma camps, besieged by foreigners to whom the left wants to give the right to vote," Berlusconi posted on his website.
Immigration is a big issue in Italy now as thousands of migrants arrive from upheavals in North Africa.
Moratti must win another round after being beaten in the first vote last week.