Geraldo Alckmin - 2006 Presidential Election

2006 Presidential Election

On March 14, 2006, PSDB nominated Alckmin as its candidate to Brazilian presidency. Because of electoral rules, no candidate running for office may currently be in an executive office, forcing him to resign the governorship on March 31, 2006. Cláudio Lembo, the lieutenant governor, finished Alckmin's term. Alckmin's party mate, José Serra, the PSDB's presidential standard-bearer who lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2002, then announced his candidacy to replace Alckmin in the 2006 state elections. Serra won the vote in Brazil's first round elections on October 1, 2006 and was elected as the governor of São Paulo.

Contrary to all major polls taken in the run-up to the October 1, 2006 balloting, Alckmin surprised almost everyone and came in second place in the presidential election. His 41.64% of the vote, along with votes cast for two, less significant candidates, as well as ballots that were left blank or spoiled, was enough to deny the simple majority necessary to re-elect incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (known by the nickname Lula) in the first electoral round. Lula and Alckmin faced one another in a run-off election on October 29, 2006, in which Alckmin actually lost votes in comparison to the first run and Lula was reelected the president of Brazil.