Brazilian Candidate for Governor Slain in Amazon State

Former Sen. Olavo Pires, 52, front-runner in the governor’s race in the remote Amazon state of Rondonia, was slain by two men wielding machine guns, police said Wednesday.

Pires, a center-right candidate for the Brazilian Labor Party, was killed late Tuesday as he returned to his office in downtown Porto Velho, 2,300 miles northwest of Rio.

Police said Pires was shot about 60 times as he got out of his car and that a woman, one of several teachers Pires was scheduled to meet with at his office, was shot and wounded in the legs.

The assailants escaped and Police Chief Jose Elias dos Santos said there were no suspects. He reportedly had received death threats.

Pires, a senator for the Brazilian Labor Party, gained the most votes in the Oct. 3 gubernatorial contest, but because he did not win an absolute majority, he was forced into a runoff election.

The president of the Superior Election Tribunal, Sidnei Sanches, said he will await word on the results of the police investigation before deciding whether to call another election. According to Brazilian elections rules, he said, a new election will be called if it is determined the crime was politically motivated.