Parties target PSDB mayors after defeat in SP – 02/11/2023 – Politics

The vacuum opened with the end of the PSDB’s dominance in São Paulo politics started a dispute between parties for the electoral capital that the toucans still maintain —a group of mayors who command about 40% of the state’s municipalities.

The expectation of party leaders, parliamentarians and mayors is that there will be a migration of this mass of mayors to acronyms considered more attractive —either because they make up the Government of São Paulo, such as PSD and Republicans, or because they have a group of federal deputies more numerous, cases of PL, União Brasil and MDB.

The PSDB, which is undergoing a change in command with the rise of Governor Eduardo Leite (RS) to the presidency of the acronym, speaks of reconstruction and seeks to keep the mayors in the party. Some of them consulted by Sheethowever, are already evaluating proposals from competitors.

In 2020, PSDB was way ahead of the others by electing 172 mayors in the state. Even so, in the last two years, the party carried out an offensive to incorporate more representatives, dehydrating acronyms such as the PSD and the PTB. Now the reverse movement can occur.

The growth strategy was linked to the electoral projects of João Doria (former PSDB), who aimed at the Presidency of the Republic, and Rodrigo Garcia (PSDB), who tried to remain in the Palácio dos Bandeirantes, both without success.

About 50 of the new affiliations took place in the context of the Tucan presidential primaries between Doria and Leite in 2021. At the time, allies of the gaucho accused the paulista of affiliating mayors after the deadline just to increase Doria’s electoral college. Now, Leite’s group says that the caption must bet on its programmatic vein so as not to lose mayors.

According to the main mayors of the São Paulo PSDB, who represent the internal opposition to Leite, more than the shrinking of the party, what could cause a coordinated stampede of the party is the threat of interference by the national command in state politics — an intention that allies of Leite deny.

In response to a request from the Sheet via the Access to Information Law, the Regional Electoral Court of São Paulo reported that the toucans add up to 238 mayors in a universe of 623 cities that did not have a supplementary election —the state has 645 municipalities in total.

Dependent on state and federal funds, especially in small municipalities, mayors seek to join parties allied with the governor in search of faster and more robust transfers.

Aiming at the 2024 election, representatives also tend to migrate to parties with a large federal bench, which means more money from the electoral fund and advertising time on radio and TV.

The government’s agreements with city halls were, under Doria’s management, controlled by the Regional Development Secretary, Marco Vinholi, who is also the president of the São Paulo PSDB.

Now who pilots the machine is the national president of the PSD, Gilberto Kassab, who is secretary of government of Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), responsible for the articulation with mayors and deputies.

The PSD elected 65 mayors in 2020 and kept 46, after the toucan attacks. Behind the scenes, politicians say that Kassab should get back at Vinholi, but there is caution when dealing with the issue to avoid accusations of using the machine to benefit partisan interests.

“The PSDB must lose many mayors, and probably more to the PSD, because of Kassab, which is a closer leadership and has a more organized party than the Republicans”, says professor George Avelino, from FGV.

According to Avelino, surveys show that there is adhesion of mayors to governors both in rich and poor states.

A Sheet Kassab claims that the change of mayors is natural, but that the PSD is not going to launch an attack to attract them. Focused on the government, he says that Tarcísio’s administration will serve everyone, without looking at affiliation.

According to allies, Kassab is going to have a discreet posture to avoid crises with other acronyms, which could affect the government. But PSD members see a chance for growth, and mayors report that the party signals its doors are open. In addition to Kassab, vice-governor Felicio Ramuth is from the party.

An example of this natural attraction was the arrival of the mayor of Bauru, Suéllen Rosim, last month. With a Bolsonarist past, she left the PSC and declared having accepted an invitation from Kassab to approach the Tarcísio base.

The PSD also attracted Senator Mara Gabrilli, who made a career in the PSDB and left with criticism of the party.

Mayors consider switching parties

Mayors heard by the report speak naturally about the search for alignment with the current government. Many praise the open posture of the Tarcísio administration.

Mayor of Guaraçaí (a city with 8,000 inhabitants near the border with Mato Grosso do Sul) and a member of the PSDB for 30 years, Airton Gomes says that he is not moving to leave the party, but has already been probed by PSDB emissaries —and does not rule out the possibility of migration.

Gomes complains about the lack of guidance from the toucan command and says that “dialogue is lacking” between the acronym and the mayors. “We lost the election, but the party continues and has not contacted us to talk.”

The mayor of Ferraz de Vasconcelos, Priscila Gambale, who was elected by the PSD and switched to the PSDB, says that she is considering staying in the party, but is in talks with the former party and with Podemos.

“It was more than fair to switch to the governing party [o PSDB à época] for the gratitude for all the work carried out”, she says, in reference to the financial aid to the municipality.

The report also found two mayors who joined the PSDB, but who did not lose their links with the old parties. In Cachoeira Paulista, Antonio Carlos Mineiro returned to the MDB. In Barbosa, Rodrigo Primo said that he remains the local president of the PSD and should return to the acronym.

At the same time that they see an opportunity in the toucan estate and outline their strategies, party representatives consider that having a broad group of mayors helps, but may not be enough to win an election – as was the case of Rodrigo.

In a note, the Republicans say they have the goal of “growing with quality”, adding mayors aligned with the party’s manifesto, and that the work is done through local leaders who analyze scenarios and possibilities.

Leader of the PL in the Assembly, deputy Ricardo Madalena says that the party is able to occupy the space of the PSDB. All municipal bodies are being divided among the deputies of the acronym so that they indicate allies and expand capillarity.

For Federal Deputy Júnior Bozzella, vice-president of the União Brasil in the state, the change of mayors according to convenience “becomes a give-and-take” which can be harmful. He has been talking to the leaders to attract them and says that one advantage of his party is to escape national polarization.

The president of the MDB, Baleia Rossi (SP), wants to elect one hundred mayors in 2024, in addition to re-electing Ricardo Nunes (MDB) in the capital of São Paulo.

Vinholi minimizes the PSDB’s internal conflicts and sees the search for affiliates by other parties as natural. But, according to him, the acronym historically elects the largest number of mayors and this should remain the case.

In the last election, the toucans launched around 450 candidates and want to repeat the feat. “The PSDB’s image is positive in the state and in the cities themselves due to its good management”, he says.