His former infrastructure minister Tarcisio Freitas, who participated in motorcycle rallies with Bolsonaro, was winning the most votes for governor of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest state, and will face Lula ally Fernando Haddad in a runoff. on October 30.
Bolsonaro boasted of having directly contributed to the election of eight governors, hoping to elect another eight in the second round.
“This is the greatest victory of the patriots in the history of Brazil: 60% of the Brazilian territory will be governed by those who defend our values and fight for a freer nation,” he posted on Twitter.
Lula put an optimistic spin on the outcome, saying he looked forward to another month of campaigning and the opportunity to debate Bolsonaro face-to-face.
Nicolau told AFP that “a small part of Brazilians is extremist, but Bolsonarism is above all a movement of expression of the country’s conservatism”, replacing traditional center-right parties such as the PSDB, of former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995 -2001).
“The PSDB was a party of elites, with very little penetration into the social fabric. That is where Bolsonaro makes the difference: he is a true popular leader, as the Brazilian right has not had for a long time,” adds Mayra Goulart, professor of Political Science. from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Bolsonarism is particularly rooted in the evangelical electorate, sensitive to its ultra-conservative discourse and its campaign slogan “God, country and family”.
With information from AFP and Reuters