Angry Brazilian voters looking to upend political order
SAO PAULO — In Brazil’s biggest city of Sao Paulo, the leading mayoral candidate is a businessman who once fired people on air during a television reality show. In the country’s crown jewel city of Rio de Janeiro, the front-runner is an evangelical pastor. And in Belo Horizonte, a former pro soccer player is leading the pack.
For the first time since a bruising impeachment fight led to the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff, Brazilians will get to vote on Sunday as municipal elections take place in more than 5,500 cities. If polls are any indication, voters are in a kick-the-bums-out mood, preferring novices to established politicians amid a deep recession and anger about a colossal corruption scheme that has led to the jailing of several top politicians.
“I don’t want any of these traditional politicians. Not the current mayor, the ex-mayor, anyone who has governed before,” said Maria Fernandes, a hairdresser in Sao Paulo who plans to vote for Joao Doria, an ex-host of “The Apprentice Brazil” who uses the slogan “I am not a politician, I am a businessman.”
Outsiders like Doria seem to be on the upswing in Latin America’s largest country, where major parties had long kept tight control on which candidates get put forward.