SAO PAULO — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his arch-rival, far-right ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro both suffered disappointment Sunday in the second round of municipal elections, with voters in Sao Paulo and other cities choosing centre-right mayors.
Ricardo Nunes, the outgoing mayor of Sao Paulo, Latin America’s biggest city, was re-elected with a resounding 59.3 percent of the vote, against 40.6 percent for Guilherme Boulos, Lula’s candidate.
The left won only in one of the four state capitals where it had candidates in the second round — the northeastern city of Fortaleza, a traditional left-wing bastion.
Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party won only two of the nine capitals it was hoping to clinch in the run-off.
It had already won two in the first round of the election on October 6.
The results were being closely watched for signs of support for the left and the right — embodied by Lula and Bolsonaro — two years before the next general election.
“The big winners are mainly the parties of the center and center-right,” political scientist Leandro Gabiati, director of the consulting firm Dominium, told AFP.
He added that voters had backed advocates of “traditional” politics over “more ideological” candidates.
“Balance won over extremism,” Sao Paulo mayor Nunes cheered.
