The decision by PSD president, Gilberto Kassab, to join the governor of Goiás, Ronaldo Caiado, and keep the party in the presidential game in 2026, with the defense of its own candidacy for the Palácio do Planalto, faces relevant obstacles in the states and exposes the party’s limits in sustaining a national project without breaking already consolidated regional alliances.
In addition to Caiado, the party also has governors Ratinho Jr. (PR) and Eduardo Leite (RS) as names listed for the dispute. But, in the opinion of party leaders, the difficulties are structural and independent of who is chosen.
The movement occurs amid the open dispute in the conservative field between senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) and the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), for the leadership of the right in 2026. For Kassab, the uncertainty creates space for the PSD to preserve national protagonism and avoid premature adherence to projects from other acronyms.
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Caiado’s recent affiliation with the PSD reinforced this strategy and expanded the party’s range of options, as well as the maintenance of Ratinho Jr. as an electoral asset and Eduardo Leite’s continued presence on the radar, especially due to his ability to dialogue with sectors of the center. The objective, according to interlocutors, is to gain time, increase bargaining power and prevent the party from being held hostage by the polarization between Lula and Bolsonarism.
Despite the discourse of autonomy, the construction of state platforms appears as the main obstacle. In strategic states, the PSD is part of governments allied with the Planalto or is committed to local projects that limit the defense of an opposition presidential candidacy. Resistance comes, in many cases, from the party itself.
In Rio de Janeiro, Mayor Eduardo Paes (PSD) maintains an alignment with President Lula and must work for the re-election of the PT member, which makes it difficult for the party to act in favor of its own name for the Planalto. In Bahia, another decisive electoral college, the PSD is part of the base of governor Jerônimo Rodrigues (PT) and occupies a central space in the state administration, a scenario considered incompatible with a national discourse of confrontation with the federal government.
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In the Northeast, the situation repeats itself. In Piauí, the party should once again be part of governor Rafael Fonteles’ (PT) ticket, while in Pernambuco, governor Raquel Lyra (PSD), a candidate for re-election, is competing for support from the PT in an environment of strong local polarization. Leaders admit that, in these states, the priority tends to be the preservation of regional alliances, even if this reduces the national exposure of the presidential project.
In Minas Gerais, another sensitive focus, the space on the right is occupied by governor Romeu Zema (Novo), who resists sharing the spotlight. Although there is dialogue between the PSD and Minas Gerais’ allies, the internal assessment is that any composition would require difficult concessions, especially in a scenario of fragmentation of the conservative camp.
In São Paulo, the country’s largest electoral college, the party remains divided between the alliance with Tarcísio de Freitas and Kassab’s effort to preserve autonomy in 2026. The leader avoids direct confrontations with the São Paulo governor, which, in practice, limits the construction of its own robust platform in the state.
In addition to these states, PSD leaders point to obstacles in the south of the country, a region where the party has competitive cadres, but faces difficulties in unifying platforms. In Rio Grande do Sul, even with governor Eduardo Leite as one of the names being considered for the presidential race, the party lives with internal divisions and local alliances that do not automatically converge towards a national project. In Santa Catarina, the space in the conservative field is mostly occupied by the PL and Bolsonarism, which reduces the PSD’s ability to lead its own platform.
In the PSD, the reading is that the central challenge is not in choosing the name, but in the party’s ability to sustain a presidential candidacy without imploding its regional agreements.
