Wives of Lula and Bolsonaro Take the Lead in the Campaign

The evangelical segment takes center stage in the duel between Lula and Bolsonaro for Presidency

The evangelical segment has reached, in the current scenario of polarization between Lula (PT) and Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in 2022, the peak of its political engagement, in a confrontation that puts the first lady Michelle Bolsonaro and the sociologist, and Lula's wife, Rosângela da Silva, also known as Janja, in the electoral ring of the presidential race.

For the election, Catholic Bolsonaro places the evangelical woman he married in 2013, under the blessing of Pastor Silas Malafaia, as the headliner of his campaign.

Brazil's First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro gestures during the launching of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's re-election campaign for the upcoming national elections in October, in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, on August 16, 2022. - . (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP) Rosangela "Janja" da Silva, wife of Brazilian presidential pre-candidate for the leftist Workers Party (PT) and former President (2003-2010) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, sings during a political rally in Brasilia, on July 12, 2022. (Photo by EVARISTO SA / AFP) ORG XMIT: ESA775

Michelle is seen as a more sugar-coated counterpoint to the president's own rough image. And it has turned out to be better than expected, according to allies.

The first lady knows how to speak the language of evangelicals, who represent 1 in 4 voters, points out the apostle César Augusto, leader of the Fonte da Vida (Fountain of Life) church.

Janja, on the other hand, is the Workers Party bet to charm female voters in a duel between two men who have entered the popular imagination as "macho men".

Bolsonarista pastors, however, consider that the sociologist has a religious liability. Not only does she exude the air of an independent woman, which brings her closer to a sense of feminism rejected by many evangelical women, but she also posted a photo posing beside images of orixás.

Translated by Cassy Dias

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