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The dispute in the largest Brazilian city is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in the second round of Sunday’s municipal elections. The candidate of the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), Guilherme Boulos, has managed to reduce the disadvantage compared to the current “mayor”, Bruno Covas, of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB), and it may come as a surprise.
Polls continue to give Covas an edge, but with little advantage over Boulos, who spent the campaign in the second round bridging the gap for the “mayor” seeking re-election. With the elections marked by the electorate’s assessment of the management carried out by the mayors of the covid-19 pandemic in their cities, the growing evolution of infections in recent weeks may penalize Covas.
After a slowdown, the rate of infections has increased again in São Paulo and several hospitals have intense bedding in intensive care units. However, in public, Covas tried to minimize the situation. “There are no indications of a second wave in the city,” said the “mayor” a few days before the election.
The closeness between the two candidates brought some aggression to the campaign, but the general tone was cordial, taking into account other controversies in the rest of the country. “The violent speech and the lack of content begin to show that it is no longer worth it”, observes the political scientist Sérgio Abranches, in an interview with PÚBLICO.
Boulos’s campaign focused attention on Covas’ vice-presidential candidate Ricardo Nunes, who was accused of domestic violence by his wife in 2011. The case was not pursued. The PSDB campaign attacks the profile of Boulos, the son of a doctor and university professor. A Covas aide accused Boulos of being “the son of a rich father, who lived on an allowance all his life, went to the periphery, but never from the periphery”.
The analyst, author of the book The time of the rulers of the accident, believes that Boulos is carrying out a “very smart campaign on social networks”, given the health impositions that prevent major actions on the streets. After winning the vote of left-wing voters, orphans of the Workers’ Party (PT), whose candidate did not exceed 8% in the first round, Boulos tried to attract centrist electorate.
In recent days, the candidate, leader of the Homeless Workers Movement, has held discreet meetings with entrepreneurs and investors. “Boulos is sending signals to the financial market to calm him, saying he will use private investment,” explains Abranches, who he considers successful. “What the latest polls have shown is that Boulos is taking the electoral preference from Covas,” he adds.
Behind the success of Boulos, Abranches names the conciliatory attitude of the candidate who claims to meet the provisions of the electorate, tired of years of ferocious political polarization. “Boulos, more than the PT, has learned that the political path in Brazil today passes through the center-left, which is more moderate”.
A victory for the PSOL candidate in the largest Brazilian city would be a historic event, but it is far from guaranteed. However, it seems certain that the dispute will be taco-a-taco, which already makes Boulos an essential figure on the Brazilian left.
“It is already an electoral phenomenon and qualifies as an alternative left-wing political leadership at a time of heavy wear and tear from the PT and other left-wing parties,” says Abranches, who sees Boulos as a “competitive candidate” for the post of governor. of São Paulo, in two years.
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