The governor of Goiás, Ronaldo Caiado (União)is the state executive with the highest approval and positive rating percentages in the country. Caiado, pre-presidential candidate, tops the ranking established by the institute AtlasIntelin research published this Wednesday (17). The governors Ratinho Junior (PSD) And Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans)also tipped to compete at Planalto in 2026, was among the top ten.
The management of Caiado, who is in his second term in Goiás, is approved by 80% of those questioned. Fifteen percent disapprove and 6% say they don’t know. In the approval ranking, the governor of Piauí appears in second position, Rafael Fonteles (PT)with 69% approval and 22% disapproval. In third place is the governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho (MDB). In last place is the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima (União)with 65% disapproval and 25% approval.
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In sixth position is the governor of Paraná, Ratinho Junior, with 63% approval and 30% disapproval. The governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, comes in ninth place. His management is approved by 56% and 40% disapprove. The governor of São Paulo is tipped to run for president, even if he publicly reiterates his desire to run for elections in 2026.
The governor of Minas, Romeu Zema (New)who, like Caiado, has already announced his pre-candidacy for the presidential election, is 18th in the ranking and, unlike other governors with presidential aspirations, does not have a positive majority. In total, 54% disapprove of his management compared to 42% who approve.
The AtlasIntel institute surveyed, via Internet questionnaires, 200,980 people between October 6 and December 5 across the country. The margin of error varies from 1 percentage point to 4 percentage points, more or less, depending on the state. The confidence level is 95%.
The ranking created to measure evaluation, in which the respondent indicates whether they think the government is excellent/good, average or bad/terrible, has similarities to that of approval. Caiado was rated the highest, with 59% excellent/good, 33% average, and only 8% bad/terrible. The governor of Piauí repeated the second best performance (53% excellent/good) and Wilson Lima (AM) continued in last place, with only 7% positive evaluation and 49% bad/terrible.
Ratinho Junior in this survey came in fourth place and Tarcísio, in sixth. Romeu Zema comes in 13th place, but continues with a negative majority – 48% bad/terrible versus 28% excellent/good.
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The institute also measured voters’ assessment of governors’ performance in specific areas. In terms of public security, which is the main concern of Brazilians today, the best performance also goes to Caiado. 62% of those questioned consider the work of the governor of Goiás excellent/good. Tarcísio de Freitas, who makes fighting violence one of his most important goals, comes in fifth place – with 49% excellent/good. Ratinho Jr. appears ahead of the São Paulo native, with a positive rating of 53% in this area.
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