Senator (-MG), preferred name of (PT) to run for Government of Minas Gerais, will meet with the president, possibly next week, to discuss the viability of his candidacy and communicate his affiliation with the .
Pacheco has already agreed on the change of party, which should happen in the next few days. The affiliation was brokered by the president of , (União Brasil-AP), with whom he is close, and further distances União Brasil from supporting the presidential candidacy of the senator (PL-RJ) — the PT member’s main opponent.
The change has already been communicated to members of União Brasil in Minas Gerais. The current state president of the party, federal deputy Marcelo Freitas, should leave the party and migrate to another party on the right — the tendency is for him to go to the PL.
Federal deputy Rodrigo de Castro, an ally of Pacheco, will assume the presidency of the party’s state directory. The mayor of Belo Horizonte, Álvaro Damião (União Brasil), in turn, is tipped to preside over the party’s federation with the PP in the state.
With the changes, União Brasil and the federation disembark from the candidacy of vice-governor Mateus Simões (PSD), who will take over the government in April after the resignation of (Novo) and will run for re-election. Simões is Pacheco’s opponent, and his affiliation with the PSD forced the senator’s departure from the party. Zema, in turn, should run for Palácio do Planalto with the support of his vice-governor.
Pacheco’s allies and party members say that he will be a candidate for re-election, for the Government of Minas Gerais or will be left out of the polls this year. The first step was taken, choosing the party, which would need to occur before April to keep the possibility of candidacy open.
According to Pacheco’s interlocutors, the idea of the meeting with Lula is to discuss how the senator’s candidacy could be made viable and analyze strategies to increase voting in the state. Analysis of the scenario could help convince him to represent the PT’s platform in Minas, a state that has the second largest electoral college in the country.
The date of the meeting, however, has not been defined — it could be after Carnival.
In 2025, União Brasil broke with the Lula government and ordered the disembarkation of ministers, but there was a rapprochement at the end of the year following the . He is the son of federal deputy Damião Feliciano (União Brasil-PB).
Pacheco’s allies say it is possible for him to establish an alliance with Lula in Minas despite the wings of the party that oppose the president. Furthermore, the intermediation of Alcolumbre indicates, after having accumulated friction in 2025.
The governor of Amapá, Clécio Luís, an ally of Alcolumbre, also joined União Brasil at the end of January. The idea is for him to campaign for Lula in the state.
Lula has been insisting on convincing Pacheco to run in Minas, while the PT is considering a plan B in the face of the senator’s uncertainty.
Pacheco has been telling allies that he intends to end his political career at the end of his current term as senator, which ends in February next year. He was among those considered to be nominated for the position of minister of the (Supreme Federal Court) last year, but the president ended up choosing Jorge Messias.
Lula, in turn, is convinced that Pacheco is the ideal name for the dispute in the state and has praised the senator in conversations with interlocutors. Allies of the PT member assess that the PSD senator could run for government with a strong ticket, with the former mayor of (PDT) and Marília Campos as candidates for the Senate.
Minas Gerais has the second largest electorate in Brazil, surpassed in size only by São Paulo. Traditionally, the presidential candidate who wins on Minas Gerais soil is elected. Since 1945, despite the defeat in Minas, it was in 1950.
