“My life trajectory is in exactly the same electorate as President Bolsonaro.” The phrase, , is 76 years old, chosen by this Monday (30) to represent an alternative to voters who do not want to re-elect () or the political project of (), now under the tutelage of his son Flávio.
In the dispute within his party to represent what would be the third way, Caiado beat the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, the furthest away from Bolsonarism among the three options. Against Ratinho Junior, he won by default, since the governor of Paraná, previously considered the favorite, pre-candidated for the position last week.
The governor of Goiás never denied his desire to repeat the race he attempted once, in 1989. In it, the first direct election for the Presidency after the military dictatorship (1964-1985), he ran against 21 other candidates, including Lula, and obtained less than 1% of the votes. In the second round, he was elected, defeating the PT member.
Caiado also never denied which sector he represents, even when, according to him, it was more difficult to openly defend the interests of the agrarian right. “I put myself forward as a candidate at that time [1989] that no one had the courage to defend the rural sector, free enterprise, property rights”, he said in an interview with Sheet em 2024.
That year, Caiado ran for the PSD party, which coincidentally had the same name as Kassab’s current party, but whose structure was absorbed by the PTB in 2003. Kassab launched his party in 2011.
The re-editing of the 1989 dispute is viewed with skepticism by the political community, for whom the Goiás native may once again have an insignificant vote when running for Palácio do Planalto.
“They show that he appears in the 4% to 5% range when the name is presented to the voter, but he has less than 1% in the spontaneous survey, which is precisely the one that measures real recall. This is important data, because it indicates that he has not yet managed to become a present option in the imagination of the average Brazilian voter”, says political scientist Elias Tavares.
One of the challenges comes from the fact that he has a similar proposal and audience to Bolsonaro, who openly wanted to receive political spoils before (PL-RJ) was nominated by his father for the dispute. Caiado waved to the Bolsonarist electorate, for example, participating in demonstrations by supporters of the former president on Avenida Paulista, in 2024 and 2025.
He is left with the support of the PSD and the legacy of his own family, one of the most influential in the Central-West, but which also bears the taint of practices such as (1889–1930).
According to Robson Gomes Filho, history professor at UEG (State University of Goiás), the family’s history in the state dates back to the 18th century.
The family had state presidents (current position of governor), senators and deputies, with a loss of local influence after the . Since then, however, he has remained in political life, like federal deputy Emival Caiado, author of the bill he led to in 1960, says Itami Campos, doctor in political science from USP and professor emeritus at UFG (Federal University of Goiás).
After the dictatorship, the family’s protagonist was Ronaldo Caiado, who in 1985 was an “openly right-wing, anti-communist, ruralist and defender of rural property” entity, says Gomes Filho.
Husband of Gracinha Caiado, pre-candidate for the Senate, and father of Ronaldo Filho, now deceased, Anna Vitória, Maria and Marcela, the presidential candidate is a doctor with a degree and a master’s degree from UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro).
He was a federal deputy for five terms, the first starting in 1991. In 2014, he was elected senator for Goiás. He arrived at the state Executive in 2018 and was re-elected in the following election. In Congress, he spent most of his time in the PFL (which became DEM in 2007 and later became União Brasil).
His political activity was marked, in addition to defending agribusiness, by opposition to the PT, as well as an appeal to the banners of public security and the fight against corruption.
De Bolsonaro publicly distanced himself during the pandemic, when he stated that the former president’s statements about Covid-19 would not reach the state of Goiás, but later sought rapprochement.
In several interviews, he has already relativized the dictatorship, referring to it as a period of “restrictions” made via institutional acts.
He ends his governorship with the United States on rare earths, which generated indirect criticism from President Lula about subservience to foreign countries.
