RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- The mayoral race in Brazil's largest city is heating up as it heads into the home stretch, with the incumbent -- long trailing her challenger -- beginning to make up ground just days before the election.
Sao Paulo Mayor Marta Suplicy still trails challenger Jose Serra by at least 7 points leading up to Sunday's election, but she is staging a last-minute rally of sorts that should keep Serra on his toes for the next few days.
According to the Datafolha polling firm, Serra is still leading Suplicy, though the margin has shrunk 49 percent to 42 percent. The firm interview 2,205 voters and has a plus or minus 2 percentage margin of error.
The Ibope firm -- which released its poll on Wednesday as well -- has Serra leading 49 percent to Suplicy's 40 percent, having surveyed 1,204 people and with a plus or minus 3 percentage margin of error.
Though it may appear that the center-right Serra still enjoys a comfortable lead, he was leading the leftist Suplicy by 10 or more points just a week ago. But in a race that's already seen its fair share of fighting and unpredictable outcomes, anything is possible.
Seeking to halt the reversal of Suplicy's recent fortune, Serra has been in attack mode of late, railing against his opponent and the campaign tactics of her Workers' Party, or PT.
This week the PT published phony versions of a popular daily newspaper attacking Serra and his Social Democratic Party, or PSDB.
Local journalists questioning Serra about the phony broadsheets and comparing them to PSDB election propaganda irked the candidate for giving credence to what he termed a subversive campaign tactic.
"You are comparing things that should be compared," said a visibly upset Serra, who noted that election officials ordered the PT to collect the fake newspapers.
Suplicy, meanwhile, has had her own grievances with the media saying in a recent interview that she was regularly persecuted in newspapers and on television though she didn't know why.
"The prejudice and persecution I have felt from all the media is incredible," said Suplicy, who burst into tears. "It's very difficult to endure this persecution."
Analysts note that the sometimes-aloof Sao Paulo mayor has made many enemies along the campaign trail, sometimes snapping at reporters when asked something she doesn't like.
Others refer to her well-publicized divorce three years ago from popular PT Sen. Eduardo Suplicy contributing to her lost allure and the media's distaste for current husband Luis Favre, an Argentine-French citizen who was part of her first mayoral team in 2000 and in this race as well.
Of course, it certainly didn't help matters for Marta when one of her top political advisers, Duda Mendonca, was arrested last Friday at an illegal cockfight in Rio de Janeiro.
However, she's still managing a late-race rally.
The Suplicy-Serra campaign trail has been a dirty one. In the weeks and months leading up to Sunday's elections, they've bashed one other repeatedly in the media and duked it out in televised debates. A couple times their supporters have been known to swap actual blows in the streets while stumping for their candidate.
During their first televised debate earlier this month Suplicy slammed Serra's vice-mayoral running mate, Gilberto Kassab, for his former association with disgraced ex-Sao Paulo Mayor Celso Pitta (1997-2000), who was forced to step down amid numerous corruption charges.
"The Pitta gang is returning to Sao Paulo," warned Suplicy.
Later in the debate Serra, who had deflected a number of Suplicy's harsher blows, accused the incumbent mayor of trying to "federalize" the debate and race by referring to national issues.
Earlier Marta had accused Serra of using the Sao Paulo mayor's position as a springboard back into national politics. The ex-health minister and handpicked would-be successor of former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso lost the 2002 presidential election to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who leads a broad coalition of parties headed by his and Suplicy's PT.
"If I wanted to federalize the debate, I would ask, 'Where are the 10 million jobs that the PT said it would create?'" said Serra, whose PSDB is now Brazil's leading political opposition party.
The country is closely watching the Sao Paulo race as it is Brazil's largest city and economic capital.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is keen on seeing Mayor Marta Suplicy overcome the odds and beat Jose Serra, considering she is a member of his ruling Worker's Party and a win for her would bolster Lula's re-election bid in 2006.
A loss, however, could cost Lula much need votes in Brazil's most populous state as local leaders often act as vote brokers for federal election.
It would also bolster a probable bid by Sao Paulo state Gov. Geraldo, also from the PSDB, to challenge Lula in presidential election.
