Gilberto Kassab, incumbent mayor of Sao Paulo, the most populated city in Brazil and South America, was re-elected on Sunday in the second round of the country's municipal election.
According to the Electoral Superior Tribunal, the second round election began on Sunday at 8 a.m. local time (1100GMT) and ended at 5 p.m. local time (2000GMT).
Kassab, 48, from the Democrat Party (DEM), won 61 percent of the votes against the 39 percent of Marta Suplicy from the Brazilian Democrat Social Party (PSDB), to continue to govern the city with a population of 11 million.
During the first round of election on Oct. 5, Kassab won 33 percent of the votes, while Suplicy closely followed with 32 percent.
Kassab was supported by the current Governor of Sao Paulo state, Jose Serra from the PSDB, who is considered the presidential candidate of the political alliance formed by the DEM and the PSDB for the general elections in 2010.
With Sunday's victory, the mayor of Sao Paulo could be decisive for the DEM, a conservative political force in Brazil, to declare its support for Serra as a presidential candidate.
Kassab will manage a budget of some 13 billion U.S. dollars in 2009, almost 20 percent more from 2008.
The second round election, held in all the municipalities with more than 200,000 voters, was to vote for candidates that failed to win 50 percent of the valid votes during the first round, according to Brazilian laws.
The chosen candidates will start a four-year term from Jan. 1, 2009, and the result of the election will be decisive to the presidential election in 2010.
Source:Xinhua
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