The CNN Brazil livestream lit up Chris Miller’s porch Sunday night, as smoke rose from the grill and friends filled their plates with rice and pineapple. The group gathered to watch the results roll in from Brazil’s presidential election.
The race remained tight until the final count, when incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won 51.79 per cent of the vote.
Brazilians make up a large part of the Vineyard’s community and so the race was closely watched on the Island. At Mr. Miller’s watch party, most attendees supported his conservative challenger, Flávio Bolsonaro.
“We’re hoping to see Lula gone. He’s been here for too long,” Mr. Miller said. “We’re ready for Flávio and for a new generation who can lead the country and get the economy back up and running.”
Mr. Miller owns Miller’s Professionals, a family-run business serving the Island through roofing services, lawn-care, pool services and construction.
He says his political views are generally centrist, and he doesn’t align with one party or another.
“Both parties have a good vision,” he said. “It’s just dependent on who is running for president.”
Mr. Miller’s main concerns, similar to other attendees, surrounded the economy and helping impoverished people. He also supported Mr. Bolsonaro’s promise to impose term limits.
“Lula is not a bad guy, he just has been in power for too long,” Mr. Miller said.
Thirteen-year-old Sophia Bacelar, another watchparty attendee, echoed Mr. Miller’s sentiments. Her father, Wander Bacelar, was a lawyer in Brazil, where she lived with him and the rest of her family from 2014 to 2020.
Ms. Bacelar said her family places greater importance on individual candidates than on party affiliation. Like Mr. Miller, they are concerned about the economy and rising cost of living for families.
“I don’t love [Mr. Bolsonaro’s] views on certain things, but I want families to be able to afford food and give their kids a childhood like I had,” she said.
Ms. Bacelar said her Brazilian friends on the Island are also politically engaged, and she believes most of them had hoped Mr. Bolsonaro would win.
“I have a lot of friends rooting for Flávio, but a couple rooting for Lula,” she said. “But I still love my friends. Just because our views are different doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”