The governors of the southern and southeastern states of Brazil do not intend, for the moment, to modify their political plans for 2026, after the choice of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro as the country’s presidential candidate, according to statements made during a meeting this Saturday at the Guanabara Palace.
The choice of Flávio Bolsonaro, announced the day before, was made by his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is in prison after being convicted of attempted coup d’état, in addition to being ineligible due to a decision of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
The governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo), said that he respects the choice of Jair Bolsonaro, but that he follows the project to decompatibilise the position until April 2026 to position himself as a pre-candidate for the presidency.
“My pre-candidacy does not change anything; I was with the former president and I said it to Jair Bolsonaro. I think that the more candidates there are, the better it is for the right (to try to defeat President Lula)”, he told journalists this Saturday during the meeting of the Consortium for the Integration of the South and South-East States (Cosud), which brings together the governors of the South and South-East regions, in the capital Rio de Janeiro.
Another who maintains his pre-candidacy is the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, who left the PSDB for the PSD. He said he wanted to be an alternative to the polarization that harms Brazilian politics and society.
“It is the aspiration to lead this process… I am not in politics to be another person, but to do something… I maintain this aspiration to be a candidate. I continue as an alternative offer to Brazil”, he assessed.
PSD leaders, however, plan to launch Leite as a candidate for the Senate in 2026. The governor of Paraná, Ratinho Junior, estimated that the party, under the leadership of Gilberto Kassab, should define the political project for 2026 at the beginning of next year. According to him, the party could have its own candidacy or establish an alliance with someone from the center-right.
“The PSD wants to be protagonist: it could be as the main actor or in alliance with Zema, (with the governor of Goiás Ronaldo) Caiado and even Flávio,” he said.
The choice of Jair Bolsonaro’s eldest son shook Brazilian markets on Friday, causing interest rates to rise by more than 50 basis points and the dollar to rise by almost 3% against the real, while the Ibovespa fell by more than 4%.
The information was poorly received by investors, who see it as an obstacle to the presidential candidacy of the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), the market favorite, who did not participate in Cosud this Saturday.
Before being launched for the presidency, Flávio Bolsonaro would be a candidate for the Rio State Senate. The governor of Rio, Cláudio Castro (PL), has already considered the possibility of running for the Senate seat and, with the entry of Flávio Bolsonaro into the feud, the way could be opened.
“Flavio’s decision does not affect my political project in any way. It depends on the moment Rio goes through in terms of public security in 2026. If my political camp thinks I can collaborate, I can come; I will listen to the party,” Castro said.
The governor of Santa Catarina, Jorginho Mello (PL), added that his candidate was Jair Bolsonaro and supports the choice of the former president.