Brazil's Flavio Bolsonaro picks tough-on-crime running mate

Brazil's right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro on Wednesday announced as his running mate a conservative lawmaker who has focused on fighting crime, a key voter concern in October elections.

The pick of little-known lawmaker Alfredo Gaspar came after weeks of uncertainty as several women seen as possibilities for joining Bolsonaro's ticket were blocked from running by their parties, which rejected a formal alliance with him.

Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro, is the main election rival of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking a fourth term in office.

Gaspar "is someone I have come to admire ... for his courage, his honesty, and his track record leading public security efforts; someone who has served as a prosecutor and head of his state's public prosecutor's office," the 45-year-old senator said.

Flavio Bolsonaro, a hardliner on crime, is making crime in Brazil a central pillar of his campaign.

A congressman since 2023, Gaspar, 55 represents the state of Alagoas in northeastern Brazil for the Liberal Party (PL) which Bolsonaro is representing in the election.

This impoverished region has historically supported Lula.

"I will march by his side so that we can transform Brazil into a fair and decent place," Gaspar said.

Flavio Bolsonaro's campaign organizers had hinted at a woman running mate as he seeks to reach out to a demographic Brazil's right has struggled to win over.

The candidates he had in mind were mostly from Brazil's powerful center-right parties -- who typically offer support to the ruling party in exchange for congressional positions and resources.

The parties approached for his running mate did not want the formal alliance with Flavio Bolsonaro.

"With Lula ahead in most polls, neutrality offers these self-serving parties more bargaining power than an early commitment to the opposition," said Mariano Machado, Americas Principal Analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.