SAO PAULO/BRASILIA (Reuters) – A tight runoff campaign for Brazil’s presidency kicked off yesterday with leftist incumbent Dilma Rousseff and pro-business rival Aecio Neves racing to win over supporters of the third-placed candidate after she was knocked out of the election.
Neves, a centrist senator who had been widely written off until a few days before the first round of the election on Sunday, rode a late surge in support to grab second place with 33.6 per cent of the vote.
He will now face Rousseff, who won 41.6 per cent support, in an October 26 runoff to decide what has been Brazil’s most unpredictable election in decades.
Rousseff remains a slight favourite due to her enduring support among the poor, but Neves is within striking distance.
His rejection numbers are lower than Rousseff’s and he is expected to pick up most of the 21 per cent of voters who backed the third-place finisher, environmentalist Marina Silva.
Brazil’s main stock index soared 8 percent early yesterday and was still up more than 5 per cent in afternoon trading as investors were cheered by Neves’ strong showing. The country’s real currency was 1.75 per cent stronger.
“Incumbents with more than 40 per cent rejection struggle to get re-elected, and she is at 43 per cent,” said Ricardo Guedes of local polling firm Sensus.
Latin America’s largest economy has been stuck in a rut for nearly four years under Rousseff, and most of Brazil’s business community and Wall Street investors have made no secret of their desire for change.
After the first round of voting, both Rousseff and Neves immediately shifted their focus to win over Silva’s supporters.
