Lula’s Pick Loses in Sao Paulo as Centrist Mayors Win Big
- Nunes reelected in Sao Paulo with 59% in Sunday’s runoff
- Centrist mayors will run more than half of Brazilian cities
Ricardo Nunes flashes the victory sign in Sao Paulo on Oct. 27.
Photographer: Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images
Centrist parties were the biggest winners of Brazil’s municipal elections, with a candidate backed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva losing in Sao Paulo and another supported by former President Jair Bolsonaro defeated in the capital of the agricultural powerhouse state of Goias.
Ricardo Nunes of the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement was reelected with 59% of the votes in a runoff Sunday to lead the country’s biggest city, leaving behind Lula-backed Guilherme Boulos with 41%, according to official results. Candidates supported by Bolsonaro lost in Goiania, capital of Goias, and in Curitiba, capital of the southern state of Parana.