Former São Paulo Mayor João Doria Leads Governor's Race in São Paulo, but His Rejection Rises

04/16/2018 - 07h56

According to a Datafolha institute poll, the former São Paulo mayor João Doria (PSDB) is leading the governor's race in the state of São Paulo. However, his unfavorables have shot up in the state capital - which he had been in charge of for one year and three months before resigning in order to participate in the election.

Doria appeared in first in the two electoral scenarios that were taken into consideration in the poll - which was held between Wednesday (the 11th) and Friday (the 13th). In the first scenario, Doria has 29% of the vote, followed by the president of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP), Paulo Skaf, who has 20% of the vote.

The current governor, Márcio França (PSB), has 8% of the vote, and is practically tied with the former mayor of São Bernardo do Campo, Luiz Marinho (PT), who has 7% of the vote. Abstentions reached 26%.

	Dário Oliveira/Folhapress
	Former São Paulo Mayor João Doria

Doria's lead increased when Datafolha simulated an alternative scenario without Mr. Skaf: the former mayor appeared in first with 36% of the vote, followed by Mr. França (10%) and Mr. Marinho (9%), while abstentions rose to 32%.

Approximately one-third of Skaf voters backed Doria in the latter scenario. Another 35% of Skaf voters abstained, while his remaining votes were evenly distributed among the other candidates.

In both scenarios, candidates Rogério Chequer (Partido Novo), Lisete Arelaro (PSOL) and Alexandre Zeitune (Rede) obtained somewhere between 1% and 3% of the vote.

Even though campaigning has been underway for six months, in the so-called spontaneous poll - which is when participants were asked to pick the candidate they planned on voting for off the top of their heads - 62% of voters said they weren't sure who they would vote for, while 21% of voters said they would abstain.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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