RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazilians across the country appeared to be in a kick-the-bums-out mood Sunday as they voted for the first time since President Dilma Rousseff was removed from office.
The vote in more than 5,500 cities was expected to help measure voter anger over the slumping economy in Latin America’s largest nation, disgust at endemic corruption and divisions over Rousseff’s impeachment, as well as local issues.
Polls show outsiders running well in big cities like Sao Paulo, where the front-runner is a businessman Joao Doria, who once hosted “The Apprentice Brazil” and promises to upend politics-as-usual by employing business efficiency.
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More traditional candidates, such as Sao Paulo incumbent Fernando Haddad, are simply hoping to garner enough votes to force a second round of voting later this month.
In Rio de Janeiro, the frontrunner is Sen. Marcelo Crivella, an evangelical pastor who has run and lost previous mayoral and gubernatorial elections. Known for religious songs on YouTube with titles like “Jesus Cures” and “I’m Israel,” Crivella appears to be getting a serious look this time around.
“All the candidates are weak except for Crivella. He’s the only one who could do what he promises,” said Jayr Silva, a 70-year-old mechanical engineer who added he was attracted to Crivella because of all the corruption during the 13 years Rousseff’s Workers’ Party was in power.
In August, the Senate removed Rousseff for illegally shifting funds between federal budgets. She denies wrongdoing and says Brazil’s elites are trying to roll back social gains brought by her leftist party.
In the background of the nearly year-long impeachment fight was a cascade of revelations from a corruption probe at state oil company Petrobras. Several businessmen and politicians from several major parties have been jailed in the kickback scheme that authorities say resulted in more than $2 billion in bribes.
“Politicians are a terrible race unto themselves,” said Regina Fontes, a 64-year-old retired school teacher in Rio who had yet to decide who she was voting for. “They make all kinds of promises and then what do they do? They steal.”
