Former mayor of Salvador and heir to Carlism, traditional political culture of Bahia, ACM Neto (União) confirmed for the first time that he will be a candidate for the government of Bahia in 2026. His name has been tested in the searches and appears in front of the current governor and possible candidate for re-election, Jerônimo Rodrigues (PT). The history of state conflicts, however, shows that PT members tend to mobilize throughout the campaign.
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— I am a candidate for governor of Bahia — Neto said during an event in the south of the state. — I am here because I feel that we all have a responsibility and a commitment to the future of Bahia and Brazil, and one thing is directly linked to the other.
If he runs for office, it won’t be the first time the former mayor has tried to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather Antônio Carlos Magalhães, the ex-PFL leader who governed Bahia for three separate periods. In 2022, Neto ran against the same Jerônimo, until then unknown secretary of Rui Costa, former governor and today Minister of the Civil House.
The right-wing candidate dominated the polls until election day approached, but, following the nationalization of the campaign and the strengthening of Lula in Bahia, where the president obtained 69.7% of the votes in the first round, Jerônimo changed the situation. The PT member from Bahia even almost won in the first round, with 49.5%, but he needed the second round, in which he beat his opponent by 52.8% to 47.2%.
Before him, Rui Costa (2014) and Jacques Wagner (2006) experienced similar situations. They started behind, but fought back and were elected in the first round. In subsequent contests, they were re-elected without much adversity.
The last Genial/Quaest poll in Bahia, in August, gave Neto with 41%, against 34% for the governor. Jerônimo, however, has 59% approval, representing a path for electoral growth.
With Jaques Wagner, Rui Costa and Jerônimo, Lula’s party has won every Bahian election since 2006. The force established since then broke the hegemony of the ACM’s PFL, which later became DEM and, recently, merged with the PSL into União Brasil.
Before the PT dominated the state, the PFL won conflicts between 1990 and 2002. During the dictatorship, Antônio Carlos Magalhães also served as governor for two periods. He was affiliated with Arena, the regime party, then with the PDS, the name adopted by the party when the country was preparing for the opening.
Neto, in turn, served as a state and federal deputy, as well as mayor for two terms. Before attempting to become governor for the first time, he appointed his successor as mayor, Bruno Reis (União), who still commands the city. In a logic opposite to what is happening at the state level, the PT has never managed to elect a mayor in the capital of Bahia.
During the event in which he confirmed his candidacy, Neto also assured that he would oppose the PT at the national level.
— My candidate is the one who will help defeat the PT, win the elections here and throughout Brazil — he said.
According to Quaest, 40% of Bahians want the next governor to be an ally of Lula, and 49% prefer someone “independent”. Only 9% express sympathy for a name close to Jair Bolsonaro.
This profile of the electorate meant that ACM Neto did not adopt a firm position in the 2022 second round. He avoided declaring his vote for the former president.
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