LETTER FROM SAO PAULO
This is one of the most important elections organized in 2024, but it still goes largely under the radar: on October 6, more than 150 million Brazilians will be called to the polls for the municipal elections. The opportunity to renew the councilors of the 5,500 town halls of this country-continent and a mid-term test for the left-wing president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The “mother of all battles” remains that of Sao Paulo. The megacity is the economic capital of Brazil and the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere, with its 11.4 million inhabitants (double counting the outskirts), its 34,000 taxis, 400 helicopters and 700 pizzas eaten at home. minute. From the imposing Matarazzo building, its mayor has control of a budget of 20 billion euros and an army of 125,000 civil servants.
In “Sampa”, the left aims to dethrone the current right-wing councilor, Ricardo Nunes, from the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB). Since the return of democracy, the Workers’ Party (PT) has governed the city on several occasions and Lula won the 2022 presidential election with 53.5% of the votes against Jair Bolsonaro (compared to 50.9% in the National level). The breeding ground therefore seems favorable.
Left paulistana bases its hopes on the young Guilherme Boulos. At 41, this deputy of the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), former leader of the Homeless Movement, is anything but a novice. In the 2020 municipal election, he had already created a surprise by obtaining 40% of the votes in the second round against the outgoing mayor, Bruno Covas. With his beard, his cheekiness and his talents as a tribune, many see him as a worthy successor to Lula.
Conversely, Ricardo Nunes, 56, is a figure in his own city that is both sulphurous and poorly known. An entrepreneur devoid of any charisma, threatened in several cases of embezzlement of public funds, the councilor succeeded in 2021 Bruno Covas, who died of cancer, and of whom he was vice-mayor. His management has since been marked by an explosion in insecurity and the number of homeless people. Only 17% of Sao Paulo residents judge his action positively.
An irresistible alliance
Nine months before the deadline, Guilherme Boulos is therefore logically at the top of the poll, with around 30% of voting intentions according to polling institutes, against 25% for Ricardo Nunes. The other candidates, such as the centrist MP Tabata Amaral, the radical Bolsonarist and former Minister of the Environment Ricardo Salles or the libertarian Kim Kataguiri do not cross the 10% vote barrier.
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