Sao Paulo mayor’s race heads to a runoff without a controversial outsider in Brazil’s elections

Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The mayor’s race in Sao Paulo is heading to a runoff, while Rio de Janeiro incumbent mayor was reelected in the first round of Brazil’s local elections. Incumbent Ricardo Nunes and leftist lawmaker Guilherme Boulos advanced in Sao Paulo, while self-help guru turned far-right politician Pablo Marçal only just missed out on a spot in the runoff. Much of the attention leading up to Sunday’s vote had been on Brazil’s biggest city, where the race has been marred by episodes of violence involving Marçal. Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes won an outright majority of votes, easily fighting off his principal challenger, Alexandre Ramagem, the former chief of Brazil’s intelligence agency. The second round vote is slated for Oct. 27.