RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilians are voting across the country for the first time since President Dilma Rousseff was removed from office, and they appear to be in a kick-the-bums-out mood.
The vote in more than 5,500 cities will help measure voter anger over a slumping economy, disgust at endemic corruption and divisions over Rousseff’s impeachment, as well as local issues.
Polls show outsiders running well in big cities like São Paulo, where the front-runner is a businessman who once hosted “The Apprentice Brazil.” More traditional candidates are simply hoping to garner enough votes to force a second round of voting later this month.
The Senate removed Rousseff for illegally shifting funds between federal budgets. She denies wrongdoing and says Brazil’s elites are trying to roll back social gains brought by her leftist party.
