(Republicans) did not confirm whether he will be a candidate for President next year, but left the stage at the Bradesco Asset Investment Forum, in , as if he were.
The governor of São Paulo closed this Wednesday’s event (12), one of the most traditional on the financial market calendar, saying that he is not moving thinking about the 2026 elections because “the manager has to live the entire term”.
“We don’t stop for a minute to think ‘let’s do this because it will have electoral repercussions’. We have things to deliver […]. I say I don’t think about elections and people sometimes doubt it. If I were thinking about elections, I would never invest, for example, R$ 14 billion reais in the Campinas-São Paulo intercity train, because it is better to take that money and disperse it into parish politics, that would give much more dividends. We have to think in the long term, in a structuring project.”
But, after citing achievements during his mandate in São Paulo, he stated that, for the 2026 election, “we have to mobilize a team that thinks and is passionate about Brazil” and endorsed the pillars mentioned by Paulo Hartung, former governor of Espírito Santo with whom he shared the panel.
Hartung listed three “essential actions to unlock the country’s potential.” The first: elect a leader who has the ability to have a good dialogue with the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate, which he summarized as a “political shock”. The second: receive the “world title of best regulator” to attract international investments. And the third: improving public services, “with a focus on combating organized crime in the country”.
Tarcísio stated that he considers it important to build a country project that has these three fundamentals as its base.
“We are going to present this project to Brazil and this project will be done correctly, it will be successful next year, which is what Brazil deserves. And then we will take the leap that we are waiting for, because I am not satisfied with being forever a country of the future”, he said.
Hartung stated that the governor of São Paulo is representative of a new cycle of leaders that has emerged in the country. “And my personal hope is to see one of them in the Presidency of the Republic in a short time,” he said. Tarcísio didn’t respond, just smiled.
When asked what the most urgent agendas for the country would be, the governor listed action plans on a national scale and made in front of the Government of São Paulo.
“We are going to solve the fiscal problem”, he stated, “and this is done by moving some levers”. He cited an agenda of reforms – budgetary, indexed benefits, tax and administrative –, preaching a reduction in the size of the State and the resumption of the privatization program.
He then reaffirmed the importance of confronting organized crime and, on a global scale, of “taking advantage of opportunities, because geopolitics is governing the economy.”
Brazil, according to him, can be a catalyst for the global energy transition as it is a strong producer of clean energy and an ally in the fight against food insecurity. “We are going to structure the country, take advantage of its potential in the knowledge economy, energy transition, food security.”
The lack of a response regarding a possible in-person application caused concern. Hartung joked: “I know the anxiety in the auditorium is high. I’m married to a psychoanalyst, so anxiety is a good market for my family.”
The former governor of Espírito Santo closed the panel by saying that, in politics, finding the right time is the key to going far. “If you do it before, it will go wrong. If you do it later, you will miss opportunities. To calm those who are anxious, I say that, before April, not much important happens in this field.”
