By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Eduardo Paes appears to be heading for re-election as Rio Mayor after an opinion poll published on Saturday gave him a 54-percent share of the vote. The Datafolha poll, commissioned by Folha de São Paulo newspaper and TV Globo, asked 927 people how they intended to vote in the upcoming municipal elections in October.
The result means Paes, Rio’s incumbent mayor from the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), would win the election comfortably, without the need for a second round of voting.
Paes’ nearest opponent is Marcelo Freixo, a state deputy from the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), who received ten percent of the vote.
Federal deputies Rodrigo Maia (DEM) and Octávio Leite (PSDB) came in with six and four percent, respectively.
The poll carries a three percentage point margin of error; fourteen percent of respondents returned a blank or invalid result; eight percent answered “unsure”.
Paes has the support of twenty parties and the coalition, and the survey also showed that he was by far the best-known by those surveyed, with 99 percent recognizing the current mayor.
Veja magazine reports that Paes will be entitled to more than half of election airtime on TV, and plans to single-handedly outspend his seven opponents’ combined R$25 million (US$ 12.3 million) of campaigning funds.
Brazilians will head to the polls this October to vote for mayors, deputy mayors and other city officials in 5,566 municipalities.
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