Fernando Haddad (Workers' Party) and Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) opened the free campaign airtime on Brazilian television this Friday (28) with sharply different strategies in the race for São Paulo's state government. Haddad brought President Lula onto his program and attacked the incumbent's record. Tarcísio, who is seeking reelection, centered his debut on the rebuilding of São Sebastião, a coastal town hit by deadly rains in 2023, and did not mention Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, his main political sponsor in the race, according to G1. The horário eleitoral gratuito is the block of mandatory campaign ads that TV and radio stations must carry by law.
Tarcísio's first program, with no campaign jingle and an emotional soundtrack, devoted almost all of its time to testimony from survivors of the rains that left 65 dead on São Paulo's northern coast in February 2023, about two months after the governor took office. The Republican appeared back in the town wearing a Civil Defense vest and became emotional as residents whose homes were rebuilt thanked him. "Here, we understood what it means to give of yourself, we understood what it means to serve," the reelection candidate said, according to Estadão.
Attacks on the governor and Lula's endorsement
Haddad's ad opened with blindfolded voters sitting in front of a television, a reference to the idea that part of the population fails to see the state's problems under the current administration. The former finance minister accused his rival of offering "lies" and "crumbs" to the population and said Tarcísio "has diminished São Paulo," according to Estadão. The ad blamed the governor for cuts to essential services, setbacks in education and lost ground to organized crime, while also citing a record in femicides, the Cracolândia drug district and the state's privatizations.
As a counterpoint, the PT program showed endorsements from Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), running mate Márcio França (PSB) and Senate candidates Simone Tebet (PSB) and Marina Silva (Rede), Estadão reported. The campaign recalled the creation of the Prouni scholarship program, the expansion of federal universities and institutes and the income tax exemption for those earning up to 5,000 reais a month. The ad closed with a jingle in sertanejo style, the country-music genre associated with the rival political camp, G1 noted.
Tarcísio will have 6 minutes and 20 seconds of TV airtime, more than double Haddad's 2 minutes and 40 seconds, according to the São Paulo Regional Electoral Court (TRE-SP). The gap reflects the size of each coalition: eight parties back the governor, against five for the PT candidate. The broadcast order of the programs was set by a TRE-SP draw.
The free airtime runs until October 1, with short inserts also airing during commercial programming, according to Estadão. The first round of the election is scheduled for October 4.