Brazilians participate in high-stakes local elections

Brazilians have commenced the voting process for mayors, deputy mayors, and councilors in all of the country’s 5,569 municipalities in the first round of local elections. In Sao Paulo, the mayoral race features three contenders in a tight competition: incumbent Ricardo Nunes, left-wing lawmaker Guilherme Boulos, and self-help guru turned far-right politician Pablo Marçal. The possibility of a runoff on Oct. 27 looms over the city’s election proceedings.
Considerable attention has been directed towards Sao Paulo, with incidents of violence involving Marçal garnering headlines. This includes a televised debate incident where former TV presenter and candidate José Luiz Datena confronted Marçal with a metal chair over allegations of sexual misconduct. Another debate saw an aide to Marçal physically attacking an opponent’s counterpart, resulting in injuries.
Adding to the controversy, Marçal generated further uproar by sharing a fabricated medical report on social media alleging cocaine use by Boulos. The report was quickly discredited by local media due to inconsistencies, such as being signed by a deceased doctor. Boulos, a longstanding advocate for housing rights supported by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, vehemently denied the document’s authenticity.
In response to these actions, a judge from Sao Paulo’s electoral court ordered the suspension of Marçal’s Instagram account for 48 hours and identified potentially multiple Electoral Code violations. Despite Marçal’s appeal to a portion of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters with his fiery rhetoric, Bolsonaro is endorsing Nunes.
In Rio de Janeiro, incumbent Eduardo Paes is aiming to secure victory without the need for a runoff. However, his primary challenger Alexandre Ramagem has been steadily gaining ground in the polls, introducing uncertainty to the outcome of the election. Ramagem, the former head of Brazil’s intelligence agency under Bolsonaro, is under investigation regarding alleged spying on political rivals, allegations which he denies.
Bolsonaro is throwing his support behind Ramagem, contributing to his rise in popularity, evidenced by increased support in recent polls. With over 155 million eligible voters, 43% of whom are concentrated in the southeastern region encompassing Rio and Sao Paulo, the election is significant. Additionally, females constitute about 52% of the voting population.
In a historic moment, close to 1,000 transgender politicians are participating in local elections across all 26 states in Brazil. Notably, this marks the first time these candidacies are being monitored by the nation’s electoral court, representing a threefold increase from the previous local elections four years ago. Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. Brasilia time and will close at 5 p.m. (2000 GMT). Following the day’s results, a second round will be held in municipalities with more than 200,000 registered voters if no mayoral candidate secures an absolute majority.