The main figures in Brazilian politics return to the polls in October to test the strength of their surnames and try to regain their leading role in an election marked by a competitive scenario in the states.
At least four children and two grandchildren of former governors, in addition to a nephew of a sitting governor, will run for state executive in the . Two children of current senators and three children of former senators are also vying for the position of governor.
In campaigns, they must balance the memory of their family members’ actions with the challenge of showing that they have their own light and can represent political renewal.
The most influential clan in the country’s recent history, the Bolsonaro family wants to return to the Presidency with the senator (). The former president (PL), who led the country between 2019 and 2022, is ineligible and is serving house arrest, convicted in the coup plot.
It will be the first time in Brazil that the son of a former President of the Republic will run for the same position with a competitive candidacy. In 2018, the son of former president João Goulart ran for President for the PPL, but received the least votes among the 13 candidates in that election.
The Bolsonaro family will try to expand its presence in Congress, with candidates for Jair Renan Bolsonaro competing for a seat in the Chamber, all for the PL.
In the states, four candidates will try to repeat their parents’ feat and be elected to the position of governor. In the recent history of Brazil, six states have already been governed by fathers and sons: Pernambuco, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Paraíba, Maranhão and Pará.
This year, the main novelty is the candidacies of children and grandchildren of former governors on the left, historically less open to family dynasties in Brazilian politics.
The most symbolic name is that of the former mayor of Recife (PSB), who began his pre-campaign for the Government of Pernambuco extolling the legacy of his father, Eduardo Campos, and great-grandfather Miguel Arraes, both former governors.
He is running against the current governor (), also the daughter of a former governor. João Lyra was deputy to Eduardo Campos, João’s father, and succeeded him for a period of nine months in 2014.
Unlike 2020 and 2022, when the Campos-Arraes family was split, this year João Campos will be on the same platform as his cousin, former deputy Marília Arraes (PDT), who will be a candidate for the Senate.
In Rio Grande do Sul, the left united around the candidacy of former deputy Juliana Brizola (PDT), granddaughter of Leonel Brizola, one of the main leaders of the Brazilian left in the 20th century and who was governor of Rio Grande do Sul in the 1960s and Rio de Janeiro in the 1980s and 1990s.
The left will also be united in Paraná with Requião Filho (PDT), a state deputy running for government. He is the son of Roberto Requião, who governed the state for three terms and is now a candidate for federal deputy.
Political scientist Priscila Lapa, professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco, says that surnames still have electoral weight, but they are not sustainable if they are the only campaign argument. He also says he sees pragmatism on the left when betting on family legacies.
“Despite their origins in the struggles of the working class, left-wing parties do not escape using traditional political tools to seek competitiveness.”
Among the center-right candidates, (União Brasil) is once again challenging the governor () in Bahia under the legacy of grandfather Antônio Carlos Magalhães, who commanded the state for three terms.
The family’s political past has been used by government officials to criticize the former mayor of Salvador. “Here in the Northeast it is full of people who present themselves as new, but it is the old oligarchy”, stated the former minister (PT).
ACM Neto countered the criticism and said that the opponent acts intemperately.
The governor of Goiás, Daniel Vilela (), is running for reelection based on a family tradition started by his father, Maguito Vilela, governor from 1995 to 1998.
He had already been a candidate for governor in 2018, when he lost to (PSD), for whom he would become vice-president in the following election. Caiado, who is running for President, launched his wife, Gracinha Caiado (União Brasil), as a candidate for senator.
In Maranhão, governor Carlos Brandão (no party) will have his own nephew, Orleans Brandão (MDB), as a candidate for his succession. The choice, who see the candidacy as an attempt to create a new oligarchy in the state.
“Our state cannot be treated as if it had an owner, surname or successor chosen at home,” said vice-governor Felipe Camarão (PT), who broke with Brandão.
Orleans, who will contest his first election, goes into the election anchored in an alliance with 12 parties. There is no legal impediment, as the electoral law does not prohibit the candidacy of a governor’s nephew, considered a third-degree relative.
At least five children of senators and former senators are running for state governments, including Lucas Ribeiro (PP) and Efraim Filho (PL) in Paraíba, Natasha Slhessarenko (PSD) in Mato Grosso, and Expedito Netto (PT) in Rondônia.
The list also includes the already senator (MDB), son of the also senator (MDB), who will try to be elected governor of Alagoas for the third time.
If they are successful at the polls, these candidates must stage a comeback for family clans, an election that marked the end of families such as the Sarney and Lobão, in Maranhão, and the Maia and Alves, in Rio Grande do Norte.
