In charge of the Bahia government for 18 years, he wants to expand his hegemony in the state and has started a movement to occupy the three main positions on the majority ticket in the 2026 elections.
The project is to consolidate the governor (PT) as a candidate for reelection, with his two predecessors as candidates for the Senate – the senator and the minister of the Civil House, both from PT.
If it comes to fruition, the movement will represent a setback for , the main ally of the PT administrations in Bahia. The party defends the re-election of the senator, whose term ends in 2027.
The ticket was defended by Jaques Wagner on Monday (8). It was the first time that the PT member defended his thesis more clearly.
“You could call this group the trio of success because they are three governments that made Bahia prosper a lot, modernize a lot […] I would say that, given the weight of the names, it is very natural if we have a list with three governors”, stated the government leader (PT) in the Senate.
In the same interview, he sought to appease his allies, indicating that he will consider them in other ways: “We will accommodate everyone. I’ll repeat, don’t bet on a split, because there won’t be one.”
The expectation is that the PT will try to include allies with the position of vice-governor, substitutes for the Senate, the presidency of the Legislative Assembly, in addition to vacancies in the State and Municipal Audit Courts.
The defense of the ticket with the three governors represents a subtle change in Wagner’s speech, which until last year, said that only he and the governor had their places guaranteed on the ticket.
Within the PT, the proposal is seen as the solution to avoid an escalation of , which is competing for space within the party, the allied base and the Jerônimo government.
At the same time, the assessment is that Rui Costa – who left the government in 2022 with popularity and occupies a central position in the Lula government – would strengthen the governor’s ticket.
The allied parties, however, demonstrate discomfort with what they call the PT’s hegemonist stance. Angelo Coronel treated the proposal that excludes him from running for the Senate with irony.
“The PT has every right to field its team in the positions it wishes. I believe they will nominate the four components of the majority. It should be a 100% purebred ticket”, said the senator to Sheet.
He highlighted that PSD is united and will only comment on the elections in March 2026. “In politics, a week is an eternity, imagine two years. Those in a hurry eat raw.”
which in 2022 nominated vice-governor Geraldo Júnior for the ticket, also views the movement with concern. The party works to maintain the position within the majority ticket.
Geraldo Júnior’s chances of remaining on the ticket, however, were reduced after his defeat in the race for mayor of Salvador, in which he finished third with 10.3% of the votes.
Honorary president of the MDB of Bahia, former deputy Lúcio Vieira Lima defends the maintenance of the configuration on the ticket, with the PT in the race for the government and the Senate, the MDB with the vice-president and the PSD with the second seat in the Senate: ” The main criterion has to be reelection.”
Among the governor’s allies, the assessment is that the configuration of the ticket will depend on a series of factors that include the national scenario, President Lula’s popularity, the evaluation of the Jerônimo administration and the strength of the opposition.
The municipal ones in Bahia between the groups of the governor and the former mayor of Salvador (), indicating a new clash between them in 2026.
Parties allied to the governor elected 309 of Bahia’s 417 city halls. The opposition, on the other hand, prevailed in the big cities.
Government officials see the opposition weakening after the implosion of Elmar Nascimento’s (União Brasil) candidacy for the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies and the outbreak of , which is investigating party names such as businessman Marcos Moura on suspicion of corruption.
The governor’s opponents, however, assess that the PT plans to contest the election with maximum strength as they foresee an adverse scenario in 2026, both in the national and state disputes.
