Nunes resumes bet on Tarcísio after noise – 01/17/2024 – Power

After episodes of absence, Mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB) sealed the support of Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) and was at the governor’s side in two consecutive commitments, which is seen by the emedebista team as an asset in the search for re-election.

The public announcement of the alliance came shortly after the setback suffered with the migration of now former ally Marta Suplicy to the ticket of the main opponent, federal deputy Guilherme Boulos (PSOL).

Nunes was with Tarcísio at an event at Palácio dos Bandeirantes this Tuesday (16), when the governor publicly announced that he supports him in the election, and again this Wednesday (17), at the inauguration of a floating photovoltaic plant in the south zone of São Paulo. Allies say the repetition of the joint agenda was a coincidence.

Strategists who surround the mayor claim, however, that the vast majority of his voters have a positive image of Tarcísio and that the governor is a strong support in the electoral campaign.

Interlocutors from both sides claim that joint projects, especially in public security and the revitalization of the center, will be explored as assets for Nunes and as a counterpoint to Boulos, who is Tarcísio’s opponent.

“People from São Paulo like to see the mayor and governor working together,” said the Government Secretary of the Tarcísio administration, Gilberto Kassab, who as president of the PSD declared support for Nunes last month.

With just over eight months to go before the municipal election, Nunes’ assistants preach that the mayor’s focus must be entirely on the municipality’s deliveries and demands and, in this sense, public commitments with Tarcísio reinforce the management’s achievements.

On Tuesday, alongside the governor, Nunes said she was very happy with the support — which, in a way, alleviates the loss of Marta and creates a positive agenda for the mayor.

Treated as certain behind the scenes, Tarcísio’s embarkation in the Emedebista campaign came to be placed in doubt after the governor declared, on December 19, that he would not get involved in campaigns in which there was a “split ball” and would not “place himself against” former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in “no decision”.

At that moment, Bolsonaro, whom Nunes also has on the platform, had made a gesture of support for the pre-candidacy of Ricardo Salles (PL). Days later, however, Tarcísio, Bolsonaro and Valdemar Costa Neto agreed, according to the PL president, to support Nunes.

Therefore, as shown by Sheet, the recent disagreement between Valdemar and Bolsonaro could affect the election in São Paulo. There is fear that the former president will not join Nunes’ campaign and will still encourage Salles to be a candidate.

Nunes’ allies minimize the instability with Bolsonaro and see Tarcísio’s public support as a sign that the former president will be on the same project.

In the opinion of Bolsonarists, it is the support of the former president, and not Tarcísio, that will add votes to Nunes. They remember that the governor only announced his support for the mayor more clearly after Valdemar declared that the PL and Bolsonaro would be with the emedebista.

Among Tarcísio’s allies, the assessment is that the partnership between the governor and the mayor is natural and tends to expand as the election approaches, but care must be taken to demarcate the separation between management and campaign.

They consider that the ring has been in place since last year, although there have been moments of strangeness.

Behind the scenes, these allies claim that Tuesday’s public declaration of support was already expected given the level of collaboration between them and previous signals, but had not been previously agreed.

At the ceremony to announce subsidized credit for housing, Tarcísio was asked by journalists whether voters could understand that he would support the re-election of the emedebista. “I think voters can understand, yes,” he replied.

“What we have here is a great partnership, a working partnership”, said Tarcísio, adding that Nunes was “a great partner” and that gave “great comfort”.

Those who follow the relationship between Nunes and Tarcísio say that they get along well — it would be a pair that “matched”, according to an ally.

Throughout 2023, the mayor and governor demonstrated alignment, for example, by condemning strikes in public transport. In October, they worked double duty to brand Boulos as a radical and a troublemaker following the strike.

In the zero tariff episode on Sundays and the tariff adjustment in December, Nunes and Tarcísio were on opposite sides. The governor even criticized the zero tariff and did not give up on the increase at the end of the year, weakening the emedebista’s positive agenda.

Even on that occasion, however, aides to Nunes and Tarcísio stated that the governor’s support for re-election had not been shaken. Tarcísio even said that he had “zero friction” with Nunes, and the mayor told Sheet that “everything was great” and that the relationship was friendly.