Brazilians vote in tense local elections

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilians began voting in the first round of local elections on Sunday for mayors, deputy mayors and councilors in the country’s 5,569 municipalities.

In Sao Paulo, three mayoral candidates are running neck-and-neck, including incumbent Ricardo Nunes, left-wing lawmaker Guilherme Boulos and self-help guru turned far-right politician Pablo Marçal. A runoff is scheduled for Oct. 27.

Much of the attention leading up to Sunday’s vote has been on Brazil ’s biggest city, where the race has been marred by episodes of violence involving Marçal.

Last month, José Luiz Datena, a former TV presenter turned candidate, slammed Marçal with a metal chair during a televised debate following references to allegations of sexual misconduct. In a later debate, an aide to Marçal thumped an adversary’s counterpart, resulting in a bloody face.

Marçal sparked more controversy on Friday, when he published on social media a falsified medical report indicating cocaine use by Boulos. The document was widely debunked by local media that pointed to inconsistencies including the fact that it was signed by a doctor who had passed away.

Boulos, a longtime campaigner for housing rights who is backed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, vehemently denied the veracity of the document. On Saturday, a judge sitting on Sao Paulo’s electoral court ordered the suspension of Marçal’s Instagram account for 48 hours and deemed that there are “indications of various offenses under the Electoral Code.”

Some of former President Jair Bolsonaro ’s political base has been drawn to Marçal, enthralled by his fiery rhetoric, although the far-right leader is supporting Nunes.

In Rio de Janeiro, incumbent Eduardo Paes is hoping to avoid a second-round runoff. Polls indicated until recently that was possible. But his principal challenger Alexandre Ramagem has steadily climbed in the polls in recent weeks, rendering the outcome of Sunday’s vote uncertain.

Ramagem, the former chief of Brazil’s intelligence agency under Bolsonaro, is being investigated as part of a wider probe into alleged spying on political opponents. He has denied the accusations.

Bolsonaro is backing Ramagem, and his ascent in the polls is widely attributed to the former president's campaigning on his behalf.

More than 155 million Brazilians are eligible to vote. Forty-three percent of the electorate is in the southeastern region, where Rio and Sao Paulo are located. Women make up around 52% of voters.

Nearly 1,000 transgender politicians are running Sunday in every one of Brazil’s 26 states, according to the nation’s electoral court, which is tracking them for the first time. The number of candidacies has tripled since the last local elections four years ago, when trans rights group Antra mapped them.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. Brasilia time and close at 5 p.m. (2000 GMT).

A second round will be held in municipalities with more than 200,000 registered voters if none of the candidates for mayor obtains an absolute majority.

Mayoral candidate Guilherme Boulos of the Socialism and Liberty Party, center, campaigns with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, and his running mate Marta Suplicy, left, the day before elections in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Mayoral candidate Guilherme Boulos of the Socialism and Liberty Party, center, campaigns with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, and his running mate Marta Suplicy, left, the day before elections in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Mayoral candidate Guilherme Boulos of the Socialism and Liberty Party, center, gestures to supporters as he campaigns with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, and his running mate Marta Suplicy, left, the day before elections in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Mayoral candidate Guilherme Boulos of the Socialism and Liberty Party campaigns the day before elections in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, campaigns with mayoral candidate Guilherme Boulos of the Socialism and Liberty Party the day before elections in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Mayoral candidate Guilherme Boulos of the Socialism and Liberty Party campaigns the day before elections in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Mayoral candidate Guilherme Boulos of the Socialism and Liberty Party, right, campaigns with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva the day before elections in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, campaigns with mayoral candidate Guilherme Boulos of the Socialism and Liberty Party the day before elections in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Vanderbilt's stunning upset of No. 1 Alabama that led to crazed fans marching the goal posts through the streets of Nashville was just the appetizer.

Saturday proved to be one of the wildest days in The Associated Press college football poll in years.

Four teams ranked in the top 11 in the latest poll were upset by unranked teams, the first time that happened on a single day since Nov. 12, 2016, when five teams did it, according to Sportradar.

What looked on paper to be a calm day — with only one matchup between ranked teams — turned out to be anything but predictable, with No. 1 Alabama, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 10 Michigan and No. 11 Southern California all losing to unranked teams. One other top-10 team lost Saturday, with No. 9 Missouri getting blown out 41-10 at No. 25 Texas A&M.

No. 8 Miami rallied to avoid falling, too, escaping with a 39-38 victory at California. The Hurricanes overcame a 25-point deficit in the second half, taking the lead with 35 seconds left in the game that ended near midnight on the West Coast.

This marked the first time that two SEC teams ranked in the top five lost to unranked conference opponents on the same day and was the fifth time in the past 20 years that at least five teams ranked in the top 11 lost on the same day.

Vanderbilt got it started in surprising fashion by knocking off the Crimson Tide 40-35 just a week after Alabama vaulted into the top spot in the AP Top 25 with a 41-34 win over Georgia. The Commodores had been 0-60 against teams ranked in the top five, according to Sportradar, which was the most games for any team that had lost every game against a top-five team. Temple now takes over that title with a 0-25 record.

The fans then tore down the goal posts and carried them a couple of miles before tossing them into the Cumberland River.

“This is the dream, right here,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said. “And for the next 12 hours, I’m going to enjoy the dream. We’ve got more ahead of us, but this is what Vanderbilt football needs to be about: big wins on big stages. We’re going to go get some more.”

The upsets and thrilling games were far from over.

The Volunteers were the next-highest ranked team to go down, when Malachi Singleton scored on an 11-yard run with 1:17 remaining to lift Arkansas to a 19-14 win at home.

Tennessee still had a chance by driving to the Arkansas 20, but Nico Iamaleava was pushed out of bounds on fourth-and-5 at the 16 as time expired. Arkansas fans immediately stormed the field.

“You get into coaching for moments like what just happened, and it’s to see the kids and the smiles on their face and the hard work that they do, because there’s a lot of teams that can’t get to that feeling,” Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman said. “We did tonight.”

There were two other field stormings in the Big Ten following wins that weren't nearly as shocking.

Washington beat Michigan 27-17 in a national championship rematch that was missing both coaches from the title game and most of the key players.

“It feels good. You lose to them in the championship and then to come back and win and beat them, it feels good,” said Washington safety Kamren Fabiculanan, one of the few holdovers on the Huskies' roster from the championship game.

The loss snapped Michigan’s 24-game Big Ten regular-season winning streak. The Wolverines had not suffered a Big Ten loss since falling at Michigan State on Oct. 30, 2021.

Minnesota then knocked off USC when Max Brosmer powered into the end zone for on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 56 seconds left for a 24-17 win.

The officials on the field ruled him short, but the replay review resulted in a reversal the entire stadium knew was coming.

The game ended when Miller Moss' heave into the end zone was intercepted. The crowd streamed onto the field to engulf the Gophers in a raucous celebration of their first victory over the Trojans since 1955.

A version of this story was corrected to show that the last time this many teams ranked in the top 11 lost to unranked teams was 2016.

AP college football: Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Washington players celebrate on the field after a 27-17 win over Michigan in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)