Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Rio de Janeiro Mayor Cesar Maia won a third term after pledging to boost aid to the poor in Brazil's second-largest city.

Maia, 59, of the opposition Liberal Front Party, won 50.1 percent of the vote, with 99.8 percent of ballots counted, according to figures published on the Superior Electoral Court's Web site. Senator Marcelo Crivella finished second, with 21.8 percent of the vote. Maia needed to win more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff election Oct. 31.

``I was optimistic during my whole campaign, eager to win,'' Maia said in comments published on his Web site.

Maia, the son of a civil servants, campaigned on promises to expand programs to bring water, sewage, and housing to Rio's hillside slums, or favelas. He started his political career as a Communist Party student leader before being forced into exile in Chile in 1969 to avoid arrest by Brazil's military government. Maia married a Chilean national, Mariangeles, returned to Brazil in 1973, and was arrested and jailed for three months upon his return.

In the 1980s, Maia worked under Rio state Governor Leonel Brizola, and was elected to the lower house of congress in the 1986. He won his first term as mayor in 1992.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Smith in Rio de Janeiro at mssmith2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 3, 2004 22:01 EDT