Rousseff Launches Rio Campaign

Seeking reelection on October 5, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has launched campaigning season today in Rio de Janeiro state.

A dinner was held last night as part of the Rio campaign trail, titled “Dilmão.” The event was attended by various ex-mayors of Rio de Janeiro state, and Rousseff was accompanied by Vice President Michel Temer and the governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Luiz Fernando Pezão.

Speaking about her campaign to attendees, Rousseff said, “I look at the people and I feel that we are in a good fight. We do not respond to aggressions with aggressions. We respond with the truth of our convictions.”

Present at the dinner were 62 mayors and 46 ex-mayors. Of the 10 mayors from the Workers Party in the state, 6 were present at the function.

A coordinator of Rousseff´s campaign and vice mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Adilson Pires, said that she will be focusing on the South East part of the country. He said that in Rio state, “We are going, to the ten large cities, Rio de Janeiro, Niterói, Caxias, Nova Iguacu, Belford Roxo, Sao Joao do Meriti, Campos, Volta Redonda and Petropolis... Her union with Pezão will guarantee 60 percent of the votes.”

Rousseff, a member of the Workers Party, currently holds a 38 percent approval rating, while her main opponent, Aecio Neves, holds 22 percent. Neves, from the conservative Brazilian Social Democratic Party, is the former governor and a current senator of the Minas Geras state, and has been campaigning as “Aezão.” He similarly tried to gain support from officials in Rio by holding a luncheon for various officials in June.

Under Rousseff´s government, in power since 2011, an estimated 22 million Brazilians have been come out of poverty since the "Brazil Without Extreme Poverty" plan was launched in her first year.