By Brad Haynes
SAO
PAULO (Reuters) - Millionaire media mogul João Doria's stunning entry
into Brazilian politics with a crushing first-round victory in Sao
Paulo's mayoral race has fanned mounting speculation about a
presidential run by his main political supporter.
Geraldo
Alckmin, governor of Sao Paulo state, backed the political newcomer
against resistance from nearly every other powerbroker in his Brazilian
Social Democratic Party (PSDB), and in doing so undercut rivals for the
presidential nomination in 2018.
Capturing
53 percent of valid votes in Brazil's biggest city on Sunday, Doria
demolished a re-election bid by Mayor Fernando Haddad, who took less
than 17 percent as his Workers Party suffered fallout from a vast
corruption scandal and the impeachment of former President Dilma
Rousseff.
That
clinched the Sao Paulo race in a single round of voting for the first
time under election rules that began in 1992. The first-round win
surprised even Doria's allies, capping his climb from single-digit
support after Alckmin offered his endorsement.
The
former star of Brazilian TV show "The Apprentice" and publisher of
Caviar Lifestyle magazine bankrolled much of his campaign with a
personal fortune of 180 million reais ($56 million), drawing comparisons
in a bruising primary race to U.S. Republican presidential candidate
Donald Trump.
But
Doria likened his run to another wealthy U.S. businessman's late entry
into politics, promising to run city hall with the technocratic style of
former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"I'm
not a politician. I'm a businessman and administrator," Doria declared
throughout the campaign, highlighting his work building a media and
conference conglomerate from nothing.
His
outsider pitch connected with voters growing sick of a political class
stained with bribery allegations, but it also played down the careful
political groundwork laid by Alckmin.
The
four-term governor assembled a 13-party coalition to back Doria's bid,
giving him more TV airtime than any other candidate in Sao Paulo.
Television advertising, apportioned strictly under election law, is more
valuable than ever after recent limits on corporate campaign donations.
Voters
may be tired of traditional candidates but party structures remain
crucial to campaigns, according to senior analyst Carlos Bellini of
political consultancy Arko Advice.
"I
would say there is room for more names to appear like Doria's, entering
traditional parties with the rhetoric of efficient administration," he
said.
BULLDOZING CONSENSUS
Few political parties in Brazil are as traditional as the PSDB, and Sao Paulo is home to its most prominent elder statesmen.
From
former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso to Foreign Minister Jose
Serra, they lined up this year behind the mayoral campaign of city
councilman Andrea Matarazzo, a former ambassador to Italy and
communications minister under Cardoso.
Only
Alckmin, who has built a political base over decades in the smaller
cities of the state's interior, dared to challenge the consensus among
the party's elite, and he was the only one among them celebrating
Doria's victory onstage on Sunday night.
Senator
Aecio Neves, the PSDB candidate who lost Brazil's 2014 presidential
race by 3 percentage points, told CBN radio on Monday that it was too
soon to discuss the next campaign.
Still,
he recognized that it was an open race within his party. The PSDB has
nominated Neves, Serra and Alckmin in the three most recent presidential
campaigns.
"In 2018 our party will be even stronger, and our candidate will be whoever has the best chance to win," he said.
($1 = 3.23 reais)
(Reporting
by Brad Haynes; Additional reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello in
Brasilia and Eduardo Simoes in Sao Paulo; Editing by Frances Kerry)
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