2022 Race

São Paulo electoral court benefits former Bolsonaro minister

electoral Former Infrastructure Minister Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas. Photo: Marcelo Camargo/ABr
Former Infrastructure Minister Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas. Photo: Marcelo Camargo/ABr

Two weeks after denying former Justice Minister Sergio Moro the right to run for office in São Paulo for using a phony address, São Paulo’s top electoral court ruled in favor of former Infrastructure Minister Tarcísio de Freitas in a similar case.

In an application to change his electoral residence to São Paulo — and thus be able to run for the state governor’s office — Mr. Freitas listed as his address a flat in which he admittedly doesn’t live. Brazilian law requires one to live in a city for at least three months before switching their electoral domicile.

Judges, however, said no irregularities were found in Mr. Freitas’s application process. 

The former minister issued a statement saying the complaints to the electoral courts were “a sign of the strength of [his] gubernatorial bid.” Mr. Freitas is currently polling between 15 and 18 percent and is considered to be the best-positioned conservative candidate for a runoff spot.