The governor of Paraná, , participated in meetings at the beginning of the year with PSD leaders, including the party president, , and made his name available for the presidential contest.
Secretary of the government in São Paulo, Kassab has already signaled that the party should have its own candidacy, if the senator keeps his name until the end. The scenario would only be different if Tarcísio himself were a candidate for Planalto, in the event of the former president’s son withdrawing.
The PSD leadership, however, has not yet dropped the hammer on the name chosen for the dispute. The governor of Rio Grande do Sul remains in the running.
This Wednesday (14), in a press interview in Paraná, Ratinho announced that he is interested in being a pre-candidate. “More than names, it’s a project. Who will have the capacity to lead a new project for Brazil. If my name is chosen internally, I will be very honored and will accept the challenge”, he said.
According to Ratinho’s allies, internal surveys by the state government indicate that he has great popularity among classes C and D, which could be an asset in facing the .
According to what was released on Wednesday (14), Ratinho has 9% of voting intentions in a dispute against Flávio and Lula — who would be ahead with 26% and 35%.
The survey also showed that, in a possible second round, the PT member would beat the Paraná candidate by 43% to 36%.
At the end of last year, the governor had slowed down his plans for the Presidency, faced with resistance from family members, who asked him to consider whether it was worth risking a candidacy. According to interlocutors, his father, , usually changes his position regarding this possibility — one moment he is favorable, the next he shows fear.
Allies claim, however, that Ratinho Jr. reflected and concluded that he is still young (he is 44 years old) and does not have much to lose, and that it would be interesting to take advantage of the moment of high approval to try bigger flights. A Quaest survey in August showed that the governor had 84% approval.
They also say that Ratinho, who could also run for the Senate, has more affinity with the Executive than the Legislative.
For allies, the governor can present as a business card state management projects in the social area, which please the popular classes, as well as policies viewed favorably by the right, such as civic-military schools.
They also say that Ratinho feels comfortable making his name available, despite Flávio’s pre-candidacy, because he maintains an independent relationship with the Bolsonaro clan.
According to this reading, the former president abandoned Ratinho in the race for mayor of Curitiba, in 2024, when he passed over his candidate, Eduardo Pimentel (PSD), who is more aligned with the Bolsonarist right. Allies claim that the governor does not harbor resentment, but that the episode reinforces the independence between the two groups.
