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RIO – Four years after the mayor of Rio de Janeiro Marcelo Crivella (Republicans) managed to unite the evangelical electorate in the second round against Marcelo Freixo (PSOL), the numbers from the Ibope poll released on Friday and the position of the leaders linked to The churches reveal that the scene is more pulverized this year.
According to Ibope, Crivella has 26% of the voting intentions among evangelical voters, while Eduardo Paes (DEM) has 17%. They are followed by Martha Rocha (PDT), with 8%, Clarissa Garotinho (PROS), with 4%, and Benedita da Silva (PT), with 3%. The segment is one of the only ones in which Crivella leads the voting intentions, along with people who studied until elementary school.
More Ibope details: Paes leads with 27%, Crivella has 12% and is technically tied with Martha Rocha (8%) and Benedita (7%)
With multiple candidates in the running for the evangelical electorate, leaders of major churches will postpone statements of support in the mayoral election and focus on their candidates for city council.
The current mayor, nephew of Bishop Edir Macedo, founder of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, disputes the support of evangelicals with former mayor Eduardo Paes (DEM), who has already run supported by names such as Pastor Silas Malafaia, of the Assembly of Deus Vitória em Cristo and Bishop Abner Ferreira, of the Assembly of God of Madureira, who have remained neutral this year.
Three evangelical candidates – Benedita da Silva (PT), Clarissa Garotinho (PROS) and Glória Heloíza (PSC) – also target this electorate, especially women. Although without the same traffic as the opponents in this segment, Luiz Lima (PSL) attracted the PSD, of Senator Arolde de Oliveira, who built part of her base with a gospel record label.
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For the political scientist Leonardo Barreto, from the University of Brasilia (UnB), the more discreet position of the evangelical leaders in Rio is also explained by national circumstances. The recent proximity to President Jair Bolsonaro has led legends such as Republicans and PSD to embrace Bolsonarista candidates and, with that, the impact of the support of a church leader has been diluted:
– These evangelical leaders have already become more cautious due to the discussion about the abuse of religious power. And the end of the proportional coalition puts pressure on parties to have broader councilor nominations. Crivella seeks the most conservative Bolsonarist electorate, also prioritizing their survival.
Close to the Universal Church, the Crivella Republicans made room for candidates to be counselors to other evangelical denominations and other branches of Christianity. He also opted for the names of public security, in addition to associating with Bolsonarismo. Councilman Carlos Bolsonaro, who joined in March, is seen as the top vote-getter.
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The names linked to Universal, however, remain the majority. In addition to the three councilors running for re-election, João Mendes de Jesus, Inaldo Silva and Tânia Bastos, the party hopes to at least double the seat alongside Bishop Macedo. Among the bets are Douglas Manasses, director of an NGO linked to the church that has contracts with the city, and Alex Braz, brother of federal deputy Jorge Braz, bishop of Universal.
Crivella also attracted the group of Pastor RR Soares, from the International Church of Graça. Although his party is in the Paes coalition, the candidate for councilor Romildo Jucá (PL), a former regional superintendent in the Crivella administration, supports the mayor. He is an ally of the state deputy Filipe Soares (DEM), son of RR Soares.
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DEM, from Paes, will defend a new mandate for Councilor Alexandre Isquierdo, an ally of Silas Malafaia. In 2018, Malafaia supported Paes in state government elections, but has now avoided taking a public position.
It is the same situation as Bishop Abner Ferreira, who at the moment only pointed to support for councilor Eliseu Kessler (PSD), linked to the Church and candidate for a new mandate. Two weeks ago, Crivella spoke at an event of the Madureira Assemblies of God Convention and heard a message of support: days before, he had been the target of a prosecution operation for an alleged corruption scheme.
– It does not mean that they will be with Crivella all season. If Eduardo (Paes) goes there, they will do something similar – says a pastor.
