Role in Brazilian politics today
Serra was the presidential candidate of the incumbent Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) party in 2002, an election he lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula). In 2004, he was elected mayor of São Paulo in a run-off election with 55% of the votes after he signed a public commitment to stay in office for the full term. Nevertheless, he resigned after 15 months to run for governor of São Paulo in 2006, and was elected in the first round with almost 60% of the vote.
Serra announced another run for the Brazilian presidency as the PSDB candidate in the 2010 elections. He received support from his party, as well as the Socialist People's Party (PPS) and the Democrats (DEM). His primary opposition in the election was Workers' Party (PT) candidate Dilma Rousseff. Serra's candidacy received support from O Estado de S. Paulo and British newspaper Financial Times. In the first-round voting October 3, 2010, an unexpectedly strong showing from Green Party candidate Marina Silva forced a second round run-off election between Serra and Rousseff on October 31, 2010, which Rousseff won 56% to 44%.
In February 2012, Serra announced he would run for mayor of São Paulo, which would have resulted in his second non-consecutive term, though he had left the first one before it ended. In the second round of the 2012 municipal elections he was defeated by Fernando Haddad, the Workers' Party candidate.
In August 2021, Serra was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and went in a medical leave from the Senate, returning in February 2022. He later decided to run for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies after an invitation made by the Social Democracy Party. Serra got 88,926 votes, placing 5th in the PSDB list, not being elected for Congress.
