The difficulty of the state election in Paraná weighed on the governor’s decision, according to allies. The withdrawal was announced this Monday (23).
They maintain that Ratinho Junior fears that he will not be able to find a successor, given the lack of definition regarding a PSD name and the progress in the senator’s polls, who obtained the support of the candidate to run for the Iguaçu Palace.
Moro leaves and joins the senator’s PL this Tuesday (24). Until then, Ratinho Junior’s group had the support of the PL for a local alliance.
The senator also obtained another victory amidst efforts for the 2026 election. The Novo party, which in Paraná was also in tune with Ratinho Junior’s group, is now trying to support Moro.
The former federal deputy (Novo) is tipped to fill one of the Senate seats on the ticket headed by the former judge. The second name on the ticket would be federal deputy Filipe Barros (PL).
The PSD entered the year 2026 with three possible names to run for the government of Paraná: the state secretary of Cities, Guto Silva; state deputy Alexandre Curi, who presides over the Legislative Assembly; and Rafael Greca, former mayor of Curitiba and state secretary for Sustainable Development.
Ratinho Junior’s favorite was Guto Silva, but the governor avoided saying this publicly, postponing a final decision. The delay, however, made Greca leave the party. Last week, he was willing to run for the party.
Curi is also being courted by other parties, but has become a possible name now given Greca’s departure and Guto Silva’s performance in voting intention polls, below compared to Moro, who has been leading.
In addition to Curi, even the name of the mayor of Curitiba, Eduardo Pimentel (PSD), who won the 2024 elections, was mentioned to run for Palácio Iguaçu in recent days, given the composition between Moro and PL.
In this scenario, Ratinho Junior’s allies claim that the governor began to assess that remaining in Paraná could be crucial for his party’s performance in the state in the October polls.
In a statement released this Monday, the governor stated that he decided to complete his mandate by the end of the year. If he intended to run for the Planalto or even the Senate, he would have to opt out by April 4, according to electoral legislation.
“Ratinho is convinced that he must maintain his commitment to the people of Paraná in the 2018 elections and cannot interrupt the project that has guaranteed Paraná’s economic growth cycle”, says an excerpt from the statement.
A close ally of the governor told Sheet that the difficulty in the succession was one of the factors, but what had the greatest impact on his giving up was his family. The supporter said it was “a family decision”, linked to concerns about the whirlwind of an electoral campaign. The governor’s father is television presenter and businessman Carlos Roberto Massa, aka Little Mouse.
The ally also remembers that Ratinho Junior, 44, has a history of peaceful elections and would not be wary of running for Planalto. To politicians from his group, the governor also reported difficulties in breaking the polarization.
But allies also say that the withdrawal took them by surprise and that Ratinho Junior’s decision would have been taken this Sunday (22) at a family meeting. A lunch for the governor with the base’s deputies was already scheduled for this Monday and was maintained.
The meeting would serve as a farewell to the governor, who on Wednesday (25) would resign from his mandate and run as a pre-candidate for president with the support of the national PSD. During lunch, Ratinho Junior thanked the state deputies and did not talk about his withdrawal.
According to an ally, he did not anticipate the announcement of his withdrawal because he wanted to talk to the vice-governor, Darci Piana, first.
The governor announced in a statement that he intends to return to work in the private sector and preside over the communications group created by his father, presenter Ratinho. The business group includes more than 70 radio stations and Rede Massa, an affiliate in Paraná, as well as farms.
