Sunday’s elections for mayors and city councilors confirmed trends evident since the start of Brazil’s crisis last year. Right-wing parties made considerable gains, the Workers’ Party (PT) suffered massive defeat and the socialist left, represented by the Party of Socialism and Freedom (PSOL), made only modest gains in several large cities.

This was the first municipal election in which corporate donations were prohibited, favoring right-wing candidates who relied on significant “personal” donations from supporters or self-financed their campaigns. Investigations have already documented numerous infractions, including large donations from the deceased, the unemployed, and those on social assistance.

A new law, passed last year by the disgraced former president of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha, also stipulated that free television advertising time be allotted based on the number of parties in a particular coalition. This also benefited the right-wing parties and the PT who scrambled frantically to sign up as many parties as possible. The PSOL, which refused such tactics, had no such luck.