Brazil ruling party wins at least four cities

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's ruling Workers' Party won mayor's races in at least four state capitals on Sunday and could win several more in a run-off vote this month, exit polls and early results showed.

But the Workers' Party, or PT, did worse than expected in Sao Paulo, the country's largest city, an exit poll showed.

The PT won the northeastern state capitals Recife and Fortaleza as well as the northern state capital Palmas, exit polls and early official results showed.

In Sao Paulo, Marta Suplicy of the PT won 36 percent of votes, followed by the incumbent Mayor Gilberto Kassab of the conservative DEM party with 32 percent, according to an exit survey by Ibope polling firm that was aired by Globo TV. The poll had a margin of error of two percentage points.

An opinion poll on Thursday projected a 9 percentage point lead for Suplicy over Kassab. Short of the necessary absolute majority, they face a run-off vote on October26.

PT candidates in several large cities also made into the October26 run-off election. Currently Lula's party governs 17 of the country's 79 largest cities.

A strong performance could boost the chances of the PT in the next general election in 2010, when the constitution mandates Lula must stand down after two four-year terms.

Electoral authorities reported no major fraud or violence in the country, one of the world's largest democracies with around 190 million people. Federal troops patrolled parts of violence-plagued Rio de Janeiro, where drug gangs and militias had threatened some candidates during the campaign.

"We were extremely worried about the situation in Rio de Janeiro, the situation was explosive. Today it is not, things are normal," Carlos Ayres Britto, head of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, told a news conference in the capital Brasilia.

Benefiting from Brazil's longest economic expansion in decades, Lula had a record 80 percent approval rating last month, polls showed.

Lula has yet to publicly back a successor and analysts say the party lacks heavyweights who could match his charisma and broad appeal, raising the risk the opposition could recapture the presidency.

Electoral authorities said voting ran smoothly although they had to replace 2,233 faulty electronic ballot machines, or 0.5 percent of the total.

(Additional reporting by Fernando Exman; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)