Bolsonaro faces high rejection and disapproval levels in Rio de Janeiro, his political cradle

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro was born in Glicério, a town in São Paulo’s interior, but made his political career in Rio de Janeiro, where he was elected city councilor in 1988 and federal deputy in 1990, a position he held until 2018, when he left to become President.

It was also there that he introduced two of his sons into politics: city councilor Carlos Bolsonaro (Republicanos) and senator Flávio Bolsonaro (Patriota); another son, Eduardo Bolsonaro (PSL), became a federal deputy from in São Paulo.

However, Rio de Janeiro is no longer a favorable environment for the president. A poll conducted by Paraná Pesquisas shows that 52.7% of Rio de Janeiro residents reject his government, and 45.9% consider his performance bad or terrible.

Furthermore, when asked if they would vote for Bolsonaro for president should he run for reelection in 2022, almost half (47.8%) said they would not do so at all – only 27% said they would most certainly do.

In the 2018 election, Bolsonaro performed better in his home state: he had 59.79% of the valid votes in the first round free-for-all, and 67.95% in the second round against Fernando Haddad (PT).

The survey was conducted through personal telephone interviews (without the use of robots) with 1,530 voters in 44 municipalities in the state of Rio de Janeiro.