OUTSIDERS OR SYSTEMIC CANDIDATES?

THE STRATEGIES OF CANDIDATES ROMEU ZEMA (NEW) AND ALEXANDRE KALIL (PSD) IN THE DISPUTE FOR GOVERNMENT OF MINAS GERAIS

Abstract

The article analyzes the media strategies of the candidates for the government of Minas Gerais in 2022 that polarize the dispute – governor Romeu Zema (Novo) versus the former mayor of Belo Horizonte Alexandre Kalil (PSD). It can be seen from the analysis of the Free Electoral Propaganda Schedule (HGPE) programs how political actors, who entered politics as outsiders in previous campaigns, leave aside the anti-politics discourse and seek a narrative of conciliation. Kalil was elected mayor in 2016, with an eccentric and anti-system speech, being a candidate for the PHS (runtary party), with just a few seconds left in the Election Time. In 2022, he abandons the anti-political narrative and emphasizes, in his TV programs, the strong alliance with the then candidate for president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), having been a candidate for a center-left front. Zema (Novo), who also became governor in 2018 with the proposal to break with the traditional political system, in 2022, forms a broad coalition of center-right and right and seeks, this time, to position himself as a well-established manager, without denying its alliances with traditional political forces.