The arc of alliances of the political group of the president of the Chamber, (-PB), suffered a split after the announcement by the mayor of , Cícero Lucena, that he will join the .
With the change, he should run as a candidate for the Government of Paraíba in 2026 against the current vice-governor, Lucas Ribeiro (), nephew of federal deputy Aguinaldo Ribeiro (PP-PB), one of the main leaders of the centrão in Congress.
The movement by the manager of the capital of Paraíba overthrew the unity preached by Motta and other members of the allied base of governor João Azevêdo (), who is expected to leave office in April to run for the Senate.
The ticket agreed on the government base also foresees the mayor of Nabor Wanderley (Republicans), father of Hugo Motta, as a candidate for senator together with João Azevêdo.
Until the middle of last year, the group’s intention was for Motta to be the candidate for the Senate, but, as he assumed the presidency of the Chamber, he now prefers to run for re-election and seek reinstatement as head of the House.
Motta’s allies recognize behind the scenes that his father will face a fierce dispute.
Governor João Azevêdo is considered the favorite to be elected to one vacancy, with only the other remaining in dispute. Nabor Wanderley’s main competitors are the current Veneziano senator Vital do Rêgo (MDB) and the former Minister of Health (), defeated in the second round for João Pessoa City Hall in 2024.
Veneziano is an ally of the (PT), which usually has significant votes in Paraíba. In 2022, the PT member was elected with 66.62% of the votes in the state, while (PL) had 33.38%. The parliamentarian, however, will have to break a taboo of almost 30 years, since, since 1998, a senator has not been re-elected in the state.
Former mayor of Campina Grande, Veneziano was having difficulty setting up his own platform, as he is in opposition to the current governor and is also not close to Bolsonarism. The salvation was the departure of the mayor of João Pessoa to the MDB, in an event that will take place next Monday (17). The tendency is for Lula to support Veneziano and João Azevêdo, even though the two are local opponents.
Cícero will be the candidate for governor on the MDB ticket. He was re-elected mayor of João Pessoa in 2024 and decided, this year, to make the move in favor of running for government by leaving the PP, which kept Lucas Ribeiro as a pre-candidate.
Cícero’s articulation angered Aguinaldo Ribeiro, who told allies that he had been betrayed. The deputy recalled, according to people close to him, that the mayor was away from politics in 2020, when the PP launched him as a candidate.
A new ally of Cícero, Veneziano has coordinated the actions of the mayors of Paraíba with the federal government, while Nabor is betting on his son’s political strength to achieve success.
Queiroga, in turn, bets on the ideological vote of Bolsonarism. Bolsonaro has the election of the politician next year to face the Federal Supreme Court.
Queiroga says he believes it is possible to win and criticizes Veneziano and Nabor. “They command a train of joy of amendments, which are instruments for exchanging political positions. They are the candidates for the budget. And I am for the word. They will destroy each other”, he says.
The candidate for governor supported by the PL should be senator Efraim Filho (União Brasil), who handed over the positions he had indicated in the Lula government. The parliamentarian’s approach to Bolsonarism was endorsed by former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro during a visit to João Pessoa.
The right’s bet is that the division of the government camp could help Efraim go to the second round of the election. There is a possibility of him migrating to the PL, if the federation between União and PP is implemented and the command in Paraíba remains with the group of Aguinaldo and Lucas Ribeiro.
Another party coveted by the opposition is the PSD, led in the state by former federal deputy Pedro Cunha Lima, defeated in 2022 in the second round by João Azevêdo in a fierce dispute.
Cícero’s allies say that there is a possibility that Pedro could be the candidate for vice-president on the ticket. There is also Ephraim’s intention to form a composition with Pedro. The former deputy intends to make the decision jointly with his cousin and mayor of Campina Grande, Bruno Cunha Lima (União Brasil), by January.
“I won’t give up on holding a necessary debate with a huge focus on education. More than any composition, the most important thing is an agenda to put at the forefront”, says Pedro, who will support Veneziano for one of the Senate seats.
With Pedro on his ticket, Cícero would have support from the public machines of the two largest cities in Paraíba: Campina Grande and João Pessoa — since the current vice-mayor of the capital, Léo Bezerra (PSB), who will inherit Cícero’s position, supports him for the government.
Lucas Ribeiro, in turn, has as his main political capital the structure of the state government, as he will be governor during the electoral campaign. Together, Lucas’s PP, João Azevêdo’s PSB and Hugo Motta’s Republicans.
Both Cícero Lucena and Lucas Ribeiro are vying for PT support next year. There is a possibility that Lula’s party will occupy the vice-president position on one of the tickets. Despite having only one mayor in the state, the party is coveted because it belongs to the president and has one of the longest advertising periods on radio and television.
The PT members’ main focus is to elect two federal deputies to help expand Lula’s allied base in a possible fourth term — one of the candidates will be former governor Ricardo Coutinho. Currently, there is only one PT federal deputy in the state.
