I live in the São Paulo city hall: the Joice Hasselmann factor.

Moro will be present in the race for mayor of São Paulo. He will be represented by his representative, federal deputy Joice Hassellmann (the most voted in the state with over 1 million votes), who is running for mayor for the PSL party. The former judge certainly cannot ignore his presence in the largest city in the country, and the former Bolsonaro supporter and eternal Lava Jato activist Joice will be the representative of Moro's ideology from one extreme to the other in the "mad São Paulo". For now, according to the Idea Big Data poll published on July 16th, she has 5% of the votes, behind several traditional names in the race, but underestimating her ability to gain momentum is a mistake that could, again, cost the progressive camp dearly.

In the 2018 election, Bolsonaro was seen as a laughingstock by all his competitors, and the left did not give him the respect he deserved as an adversary in the election. They overestimated conventional media and underestimated (or failed to understand) digital social networks, especially WhatsApp. Fake news and mass messaging aside, it's impossible to ignore that these means were vital to the election of the former captain and to the flood of unknown names elected across the country, defeating strong competitors, as happened in Paraná, where Requião, considered a frontrunner for Senate in most polls, lost to the obscure Professor Oriovisto, and with Dilma, also well-placed in the polls in Minas Gerais, who lost the chance to become a senator to other candidates in that state. The most emblematic case was that of Wilson Witzel, elected governor of Rio de Janeiro, who, from almost last place in the polls throughout the campaign, won the election beating names like Romário, Tarcisio Motta and Eduardo Paes (beating the latter in the second round with more than a 10% difference in votes). 

Joice has quite peculiar characteristics that we need to pay close attention to. First of all, she knows how to use communication and speech-making techniques – and even more so, digital social networks. She lost many followers by abandoning the myth, but retains the ability to mobilize and electrify the masses in the virtual world. She convinces through her tone of voice, argumentative line, and especially through her understanding of the aspirations of São Paulo residents, even though she was born and worked in Paraná. She will certainly know how to nationalize a dispute of binary arguments at the municipal level: the good people vs. the corrupt (and there, in addition to the already well-known inclusion of the left, the 'old politics' will also enter). 

Another characteristic that makes Joice a "respectable" player (and one that should be taken seriously by the progressive camp) is her incredible ability to adapt to the environments she moves in (don't be surprised if, in the not-too-distant future, she slips into the center-left). Everywhere she goes, she stirs up trouble, but she always has another boat to switch to. She left Veja magazine, went to Jovem Pan radio, then became a politician, supported Bolsonaro, and is now close to João Dória (and everyone already knows that he doesn't keep loyalties to any comrade – see the case of Geraldo Alckmin, who was "abandoned" by him in the presidential election). Don't be surprised if Dória does the same thing he did in the national race in the municipal race, that is: his party supports Bruno Covas, but he, in a disingenuous way, puts a foot in the "Joice boat". 

Finally, Joice is Moro in the Mayor's office, meaning the imagery of the Lava Jato operation will materialize and be voiced (and praised) through the woman who received the most votes in São Paulo in the 2018 election for the Federal Chamber. Don't be surprised by the virtual – perhaps even physical – presence of Bolsonaro's former minister on the congresswoman's campaign platform. All politicians who aspire to the Presidency know that São Paulo is the Stalingrad of the war towards the Planalto Palace, and Moro has already deployed his generals for this tactical incursion. Therefore, the progressive camp should look less at the head of the race (Covas) and more at the tip (Joice). The imagery of the hero judge has not yet completely dissolved. We are in danger.