Brazil Elections: Beyond Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro

On October 2, the largest Latin American economy is summoned to elect its "new" president. The polls give current president Jair Bolsonaro and former leftist president Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva as favorites. However, despite the fact that these two men are the most likely to arrive (or remain) in Planalto, there is a variety of politicians who will also compete in this electoral dispute.

Recently, a strong man for a third party between Lula and Bolsonaro: Joao Doria, had to resign his candidacy. The current governor of the state of Sao Paulo did not find the necessary support to be able to put forward an alternative proposal in the midst of a highly polarized environment, in which the chosen candidates monopolize more than 70% of the intention to vote together.

In LatinAmerican Post we bring you a list of other candidates (men and women), who hope to be the trident and be able to unseat one of the 2 favorites.

Cyrus Gomes

The candidate for the Democratic Labor Party. He was a federal deputy for the state of Ceará between 2007 and 2011 and Governor of Ceará and mayor of Fortaleza. He was Minister of National Integration of Brazil during the presidency of Luiz Inacio da Silva. It has a political stronghold in the Brazilian Northeast, a key region outside the industrialized south that is home to the large metropolises of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

In the last presidential elections of 2018, Gomes ranked 3rd with 12.47%. In the second round, he publicly announced his support for Fernando Haddad, the candidate of the Labor Party that Lula commands again today.

Pablo Marcal

The candidate of the Republican Party of Social Order (PROS). Maçal sells himself as "Christian, philanthropist, real estate and technology entrepreneur, mentor, business strategist, branding specialist, and lawyer by training." For now, his candidacy does not take off, since the leader of the Pros Party barely reaches 1% of the intention to vote.

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Andre Janones

Federal deputy for the state of Minas Gerais since 2019. He is a lawyer and politician of the Avante movement with a centralist tendency. Janones became nationally relevant when in 2018 he was one of the leaders of the transporters' strike.

It is for now, the fourth option in voting intention of the Brazilians. The politician has only about 2% of popular support. Still with a long way to go to be able to be a valid option within the already polarized Brazilian polarization.

Luiz Felipe D'Avila

Candidate for the Novo movement, with a libertarian and center-right tendency. He has been a man of academia and founder of the VirtùNews medium and the Center for Public Leadership. According to the most recent Datafolha survey, the candidate D'Ávila has not even reached 1% of the voting intention.

Luciano Bivar

Brazilian politician and businessman, who runs for the Union Brazil party. He is currently a Federal Deputy for the state of Pernambuco. He has been a man close to soccer, since he was the leader of the Sport Club do Recife soccer team. At the moment it does not obtain nor 1% of the national support.

Sophia Manzano

Professor of Economics and militant of the Brazilian Communist Party. In 2014, Manzano was Mauro Iasi's vice-presidential formula where they barely managed 0.05% of the votes that finally ended up giving victory to Dilma Rousseff of the Workers' Party in the second round. Currently, he does not reach more than 1% in the intention to vote either.

Jose Maria Eymael

Federal Deputy of the state of Sao Paulo for the Christian Democratic Party. Eymael is an old acquaintance of Brazilian politics. At 82, he is the oldest candidate in the race. This would be his sixth presidential campaign, since in 1998, 2006, 2010, 2014 and in 2018 he had tried unsuccessfully. In the last race, he got just over 41,700 votes, less than 0.05% of the total. For now, he has not been able to convince more than 1% of the intention to vote in Brazil.

General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz

Hard man of the Brazilian right. He was Commander of the Army of the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and then Secretary of the Government of President Bolsonaro between January and June 2019. He has not yet made his intention to run for president official, but he wants to keep the distance with his former boss and assures that he will not "support Bolsonaro in any way". Recent polls give him no more than 1%.

Vera Lucia

The candidate of the Socialist United Workers Party (PSTU). She is a leftist leader and activist. In the 2018 elections, he barely got 55,762 of the votes.

For now, the leftist only reaches 1% of the intention to vote. A percentage that could be vital for Lula da Silva in the first round.

Leonard Pericles

The Popular Unity candidate, a movement that he himself created in December 2019. Despite his 40 years, he has not obtained any position by popular election. He was a candidate for mayor of Belo-Horizonte, but was relegated to 4th place.

Today, according to the most recent polls, it does not even score in the intention to vote.

Simone Tebbet

The head of the Brazilian Democratic Movement, formerly known as the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, under former President Michel Temer. Center ideology. Tebet is one of the few female candidates in the current elections. The politician was born in the state of Mato Grosso do Soul, and currently holds a position in the Senate representing her state since 2015, being the second woman in history to reach the corporation from that state.

For now, Tebet still appears to be lagging behind in the contest. It does not exceed 2% of the intention to vote according to Datafolha. For now, he is not a strong or influential figure who can move the electorate in the first or second round.

In the past, the MDB was an ally of Dilma Rousseff to reach the presidency. But they were also decisive in the impeachment process against the president, leaving Michel Temer as president. Four years ago, they were only in 7th place with just over 1% of the total votes when the candidate was Henrique Meirelles.

Despite the fact that the polls still give them few options to reach the presidency, their candidacies and accessions may be decisive in defining the next Brazilian head of state in the first or second round (to be held on October 30, 2002).