Wearing a white t-shirt with the print of a Pará flag, governor Helder Barbalho () stood next to Igor Normando (MDB) in his victory speech on October 27th.
Normando is 37 years old, a state deputy and the governor’s second cousin. In the second round, Bolsonaro federal deputy Éder Mauro (), taking the MDB back to command of the capital of Pará after a 38-year hiatus.
Surrounded by symbolism, the victory in Belém, which aims for a national candidacy and prepares his vice Hana Ghassan (MDB) for the succession in 2026.
The MDB of Pará emerged with the strength of the municipal ones, winning 83 of the 144 city halls in the state. Other parties from the government base, such as PP, PSD and União Brasil, are next among those that elected the most mayors.
On the other hand, the governor’s allies were defeated in important municipalities, such as Ananindeua, Marabá and Parauapebas, giving breathing space to the opposition forces.
In his second term as governor, Helder comes from a family political tradition – his father, senator Jader Barbalho (MDB), was governor twice (1983-1987 and 1991-1994) and presided in the early 2000s.
Pursued by investigations, he lost political influence with the rise of the PSDB in Pará, but saw his son regain the family’s power in the state. After being mayor of Ananindeua (metropolitan region of Belém) and minister in the Dilma Rousseff () and Michel Temer (MDB) governments, Helder was elected governor in 2018 and re-elected with a wide margin in 2022.
In office, he built a broad allied base, which includes everything from the PT to conservative parties. To this end, he states that he distanced himself from ideological quarrels and created a government based on management.
“I consider that everyone who defends the state of Pará is in our camp. We respect differences, which allows us to have representations that are from the left and the right. Those who put ideologies ahead of the interests of Pará, in my opinion, are mistaken “, he told Sheet the governor.
Helder is part of the wing of the MDB that supports the president (PT), appointed his brother Jader Filho to command the Ministry of Cities and is moving to occupy the position of candidate for vice president on the PT ticket in 2026.
To this end, it has the showcase of the UN conference on climate change, which will be held in November next year in Belém. The city, which in areas such as waste management and sanitation, will receive around R$5 billion in investments.
Helder must resign from his position in April 2026, complying with the legal deadlines to contest the election, making his deputy Hana Ghassan ascend to the position of governor: “She must, naturally, be the candidate of our political field”, said the governor.
The vice-governor’s main opponent must be Dr. Daniel Santos (), re-elected mayor of Ananindeua, the second largest municipality in Pará, with 507 thousand inhabitants.
With a political career in the PSDB, Daniel was a state deputy and president of the Legislative Assembly between 2019 and 2020. He allied himself with Helder Barbalho and migrated to the MDB, being elected mayor with the support of the governor.
But the alliance fell apart in the first half of this year, when Daniel positioned himself as a candidate for governor in 2026. He broke with Helder alleging political persecution, sought shelter in the PSB and .
Even though he is a member of vice-president Geraldo Alckmin’s party, Daniel has been nodding towards the Bolsonarists. In the second round in Belém, he declared support for deputy Éder Mauro to the detriment of Igor Normando, who would be the winner.
“Enough of this dynasty, a person cannot think they are the owner of a state,” said Daniel in a video recorded alongside Éder Mauro in October.
The alliance was seen as a nod to the camp led by former president Jair Bolsonaro, with an eye on the 2026 election. The PL’s priority will be to win a seat in the Senate.
The left camp, in turn, will try to rebuild itself after the defeat of mayor Edmilson Rodrigues () in Belém. He ran for re-election with the support of the PT, but received only 9.8% of the votes.
Edmilson defends the construction of a left-wing front to run for government in 2026. Even if he is unsuccessful in forming the alliance, PSOL should have its own candidacy.
“It is inevitable to have a candidacy to put your finger on the wound. You cannot talk about sustainability with hunger, with a lack of water and sewage system, with deforestation growing and agribusiness destroying the balance. This is the reality of Pará that It has to be reported”, says the mayor.
The tendency is for the PT to maintain its alliance with Helder in 2026, prioritizing President Lula’s national re-election project.
Pará was already governed by the PT from 2007 to 2010, with Ana Júlia Carepa, and by Tucano governors from 1999 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2018, with Almir Gabriel and Simão Jatene. Since then, local politics have taken on new contours.
On the one hand, the state experienced a rise in conservatism, with the advancement of names linked to the public security agenda, agribusiness and anchored in the strength of a traditionalist Catholic Church and evangelical denominations such as the Assembly of God and Quadrangular Church.
On the other hand, Helder Barbalho managed to grow and consolidate his political strength in the vacuum of the PT and PSDB crisis, uniting conservative and left-wing sectors around him.
The left remains on the ropes, but will work to regain its protagonism, says Mayor Edmilson Rodrigues: “Either we recover our ability to win hearts and minds, or we will have leaders speaking on behalf of a base that does not recognize it “.
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- Estimated population (2024): 8.664.306
- Voters (2024): 6.218.813
- Territorial area: 1.25 million km²
- PIB per capita (2021): R$ 29,9 mil
- State budget (2024): R$46.6 billion
- State budget for investments (2024): R$8.2 billion
Governor
Senators
- Beto Faro (PT) – 2023-2031
- Jader Barbalho (MDB) – 2019-2027
- Zequinha Marinho (Podemos) – 2019-2027
Number of city halls by elected parties in 2024
- MDB: 83
- PP: 16
- PSD: 14
- União Brasil: 14
- Republicans: 5
Voting by party for mayor in 2024 (1st round)
- MDB: 1.756.515
- PP: 248.546
- PSB: 229.930
- PSD: 153.962
- União Brasil: 146.962
Sources: IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), TSE (Superior Electoral Court) and National Treasury
