If I'd already quit, I don't think I'd have any chance left.
In the restless theater of São Paulo's municipal politics, television personality José Luiz Datena has turned away from the Senate seat he openly coveted just days ago, pledging instead to serve a full term as mayor if voters choose him in October. The reversal, offered on Roda Viva, reflects a candidate reconciling his ambitions with the logic of the race itself — staying in, he reasoned, meant committing fully, or not at all. Whether this recalibration steadies a campaign marked by shifting positions and a difficult debut debate is the question São Paulo's electorate will quietly weigh.
- Only a week after telling a podcast audience that the Senate remained his true calling, Datena reversed course entirely — a whiplash that invites voters to wonder which version of the candidate is real.
- His debate performance on Band television left him visibly shaken, and his own admission that he underestimated its demands exposed the distance between broadcasting charisma and the discipline of electoral combat.
- Datena leveled sharp criticism at incumbent Nunes — calling him incompetent and hinting he may be 'held hostage' by organized crime — while carefully stopping short of formal accusation, threading a needle between insinuation and legal exposure.
- Refusing to endorse either Nunes or Boulos in a potential runoff, Datena positions himself as an outsider to both camps, a stance that could signal independence or simply leave his supporters without direction.
- His ticket carries no woman despite his stated desire for one, a gap he attributed to time constraints — a small but telling illustration of a campaign still catching up to its own intentions.
José Luiz Datena appeared on TV Cultura's Roda Viva on Monday and walked back one of the more candid admissions of his campaign: that he had never truly wanted to be mayor and still dreamed of the Senate. One week after saying exactly that to a podcast audience, he declared the Senate ambition finished. His reasoning was stark — leaving the mayoral race now would mean leaving politics altogether, and so staying meant committing fully. "I wanted to be a senator but I don't want that anymore," he said, framing the reversal not as a change of heart but as a closing of doors.
On the question of a runoff between incumbent Ricardo Nunes and Guilherme Boulos, Datena offered nothing — no endorsement, no preference. He was equally careful when pressed on his earlier insinuations about Nunes and organized crime's alleged infiltration of the city's bus companies. He would not formally accuse the mayor without a trial, he said, though he allowed that Nunes might be "held hostage" by criminal elements or simply too timid to confront them. Incompetence, however, he stated plainly: Nunes had broken half his campaign promises.
Datena also reckoned with his poor showing at a Band television debate the previous Thursday, admitting he had assumed his broadcaster's instincts would carry him through. They had not. The moment of self-criticism hinted at a candidate beginning to understand that the skills that made him a household name do not automatically translate into political effectiveness.
His running mate, PSDB municipal president José Aníbal, was chosen after Datena said he had hoped to select a woman but found no viable option in the time available. The interview left a portrait of a campaign in active adjustment — narrowing its ambitions, acknowledging its stumbles, and still searching for stable ground as election day draws closer.
José Luiz Datena walked back a central claim about his political future on Monday, telling an interviewer on TV Cultura's Roda Viva program that he no longer wanted a seat in the Senate and would serve out a full term as São Paulo's mayor if elected. The reversal came just one week after he had told a podcast audience that his real ambition remained the Senate, that he had never truly wanted to be mayor, and that becoming a senator was still his primary goal.
The PSDB candidate's explanation for the shift was blunt: if he abandoned the mayoral race now, he said, he would abandon politics entirely. There would be no path back. So he was staying in the race, and with that decision came a new commitment to see it through. "I wanted to be a senator but I don't want that anymore," he said, "because if I weren't running for mayor now, if I'd already quit, I would have quit politics altogether. If I'd quit, I don't think I'd have any chance left."
Datena also addressed the question of what he would do in a runoff between the two frontrunners. He would not back incumbent Ricardo Nunes of the MDB, nor would he support Guilherme Boulos of the PSOL. He offered no endorsement for either man. When pressed on his earlier suggestions that Nunes might be implicated in organized crime's infiltration of the city's bus companies—a matter under investigation by prosecutors—Datena retreated into careful language. He said he could not definitively accuse Nunes without a trial, though he suggested the mayor might be "held hostage" by criminal elements, or simply too afraid to fight them. To do more, he said, would be "venal."
He did not retreat from calling Nunes incompetent. The mayor, Datena said, had failed to deliver on half his campaign promises. But incompetence and criminality were different things, and Datena seemed intent on maintaining that distinction, at least publicly.
The candidate also reflected on his performance at a debate hosted by Band television the previous Thursday. He had not done well, he acknowledged. He had underestimated what the debate would demand. "I thought because I'm a good presenter I'd put on a show," he said. "Maybe I don't learn the rules." It was a moment of self-criticism that suggested some awareness of the gap between his skills as a broadcaster and the demands of electoral politics.
On the question of his running mate, Datena said he had wanted to choose a woman but found the options limited. There had not been enough time to develop a viable candidate. So he selected José Aníbal, the president of the PSDB's municipal branch, as his vice-presidential running mate. Datena also described himself as a defender of women's rights, even as he explained why no woman would be on his ticket.
The interview captured a candidate in motion, adjusting his message, acknowledging missteps, and narrowing his stated ambitions to fit the race he was actually in. Whether these shifts would stabilize his campaign or signal deeper problems remained an open question as São Paulo's municipal election approached.
Citações Notáveis
I wanted to be a senator but I don't want that anymore, because if I'd already quit, I don't think I'd have any chance left.— José Luiz Datena, PSDB mayoral candidate
I thought because I'm a good presenter I'd put on a show. Maybe I don't learn the rules.— Datena, reflecting on his debate performance
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did Datena reverse course on the Senate so suddenly? He seemed pretty committed to it a week earlier.
He was trapped by his own logic. If he quit the mayoral race, he'd have to quit politics entirely—that's what he said. So staying in the race meant accepting it as his real goal now, not a consolation prize.
But that's a strange way to think about it. Why would quitting the mayor's race mean the end of his political career?
Because he's a broadcaster, not a traditional politician. He doesn't have a party machine behind him or a base of elected officials. The PSDB took a chance on him. If he walks away from that now, he's burned his credibility with them and everyone else watching.
So this is about not having anywhere else to go.
Exactly. He's committed because he has to be, not because he suddenly fell in love with being mayor. It's the difference between choosing something and being chosen by circumstance.
What about his refusal to endorse in a runoff? That seems like a dodge.
It is, but it's also strategic. He doesn't want to alienate either side. If he backs Nunes, he looks like he's supporting the establishment. If he backs Boulos, he's abandoning the center-right. So he stays neutral and keeps his options open.
Even though he called Nunes incompetent?
Yes. Incompetence and corruption are different things in his mind. He can criticize the mayor's record without endorsing his opponent. It's a narrow path, but it's the one he's chosen.