0
If there is one character who, today, is the biggest impasse in the 2026 election in Acre, that name is Alysson Bestene.
Alysson during an interview with the podcast Em Cena/Photo: ContilNet
Vice-mayor of Rio Branco, Alysson lives in a rare situation in local politics: any path she chooses will have direct consequences on next year’s electoral chess. The dilemma materializes if Mayor Tião Bocalom confirms his candidacy for government. In this scenario, Alysson takes command of the largest city hall in the state and now has in her hands a decision that could redefine alliances.
On the one hand, there would be natural support for the former running mate, affiliated with the Liberal Party. On the other, the candidacy of Mailza Assis, his Progressistas party colleague.
The choice is not simple. Although he was elected alongside Bocalom, Alysson bears a clear political debt to Mailza. In 2020, when she was rumored to be running for mayor, she was one of the strongest voices defending her name as Progressistas’ own candidate.
There is also an institutional factor that weighs in the balance. Any support for Bocalom, outside the party line, could put Alysson at risk of internal questioning and even sanctions for infidelity, a high cost for anyone planning a longer political future.
What makes this decision even more sensitive is the weight that Alysson will have in 2026. In command of Rio Branco city hall, he now has the administrative structure, visibility and electoral influence. In majority disputes in Acre, this support is usually decisive in giving strength to any candidacy for government.
Add to this the vice-mayor’s personal political capital. Alysson maintains high acceptance rates and moves easily between different segments of the electorate, a rare and coveted attribute in an increasingly polarized scenario.
The 2026 election is still a long way off, but Alysson’s dilemma has already been addressed. This is not just a choice between two projects, but a decision that can reposition forces and redesign the political game in the state.
Bittar is another!
Another character who has already entered decision mode for 2026 is senator Márcio Bittar. One of Mayor Tião Bocalom’s greatest political allies, Bittar knows that any support for the state government’s ally’s project would have an immediate cost.
By aligning himself with Bocalom, the senator would lose the support of governor Gladson Cameli, who is working to elect Mailza Assis as his successor. Today, Bittar is seen as a strong name to compete for the second Senate seat on a ticket led by Gladson and Mailza, a space that could cease to exist if he chooses to continue with the mayor of Rio Branco.
The impasse is not the result of improvisation. The relationship between Bittar and Bocalom is old and consolidated. It is no coincidence that the mayor was re-elected in the first round in 2024 with the senator as one of his main political supporters. In 2026, maintaining this alliance or preserving space on a government ticket will be a choice that tends to weigh on the electoral design.
Other names enter the Palace’s radar
Within the government, there is already an evaluation of alternatives to compose the ticket led by Gladson Cameli and Mailza Assis in 2026, especially for the second vacancy in the Senate. The movement occurs amid uncertainty about Senator Márcio Bittar’s final position.
Among the names mentioned most frequently are the president of the Legislative Assembly of Acre, Nicolau Júnior, and former deputy Jéssica Sales, affiliated with the MDB.
For the MDB, the possibility would be seen as strategic. The party has already made it clear that it only intends to join a majority ticket in 2026 if there is protagonism. So far, the party has not officially announced who it will support for the government, pending the outcome of the negotiations.
Recent history serves as a warning. In the last elections, Progressistas decided on the complete composition of the ticket just a few minutes before the party convention, when it surprised by making Gladson official as a candidate for government, Mailza as vice-president and Ney Amorim as a candidate for the Senate. The episode showed that, in Acre, definitions can only happen at the end of the process.
Everything is negotiable
Despite the dilemmas posed for 2026, there are those in political circles who remember that none of this is definitive. In the municipal elections in Rio Branco, in 2024, the scenario was one of almost total fragmentation of the right, very similar to what is emerging now.
At that moment, it was up to Senator Márcio Bittar to lead the process that resulted in the unification of the group. It was he who arranged for Tião Bocalom, Gladson Cameli, Mailza Assis, Alan Rick and Alysson Bestene to be on the same platform and on the same ticket.
The episode is often cited to illustrate that, even in scenarios of tension and crossed interests, agreements can still be built. And that the senator’s ability to articulate continues to be a factor considered in projections for 2026.
