He instructed state leaders to seek the party’s presence on majority tickets in all states. The idea is to have, in each unit of the federation, at least one candidate for the government or actively campaigning for the senator (PL-RJ), the party’s pre-candidate for President.
The choice of platforms will be up to the former president (PL), responsible for choosing the candidates for the Senate, and the president of the PL, Valdemar Costa Neto, who will define the names for the state governments.
As shown by SheetBolsonaro has already defined the platform in Santa Catarina, with his son (PL) and the federal deputy (PL) running for the Senate. De Toni was (PL)’s preferred name for the post.
In Goiás, the former president chose congressman Gustavo Gayer (PL) to compete for one of the senatorial positions. Bolsonaro’s order for the second vacancy is to leave it to Governor Ronaldo Caiado (PSD), who is a pre-candidate for the Presidency. The idea is to tie up support for Flávio in the first round, if the Goiano man gives up trying for Planalto, or in the second round.
Flávio is in the United States to participate in a conservative event with his brother, after returning from another event and Carnival. Upon his return, he will dedicate himself to the national articulation of his candidacy, which involves setting up platforms in the states. To this end, he has a scheduled meeting with the governor of São Paulo, (Republicans), next week and was with Bolsonaro, arrested in Papudinha, last week.
The PL’s determination is that, even in states where the PL does not put forward the ticket, there is at least one candidate for the Senate to guarantee Flávio’s platform. The party also seeks to prevent government candidates from allied parties from trying to hide their association with the former president’s son, especially in Lula states.
According to leaders, the party needs to be in the majority race, even when it is not possible to run for government, so that at least one candidate, who will be used by Flávio. The strategy, however, comes up against the creation of local alliances in the states.
For PL strategists, a candidate for governor who can transfer votes to Flávio and vice versa is more valuable — even if it is a name from another party. In these situations, the PL will try to compensate with its own candidacy for the Senate.
Another strategy is to have , which could also balance the absence of a candidate for government.
Party members say that an alliance with the União Progressista federation, formed by and , is already underway in some states, including Rio de Janeiro. The PL also aims to bring the Republicans into the national coalition that will launch Flávio. However, adjustments are still necessary in states where the interests of the PL collide with those of the center.
The arrangement in Santa Catarina, for example, distances the PP from an alliance with Flávio. By defending a pure ticket in the dispute for the Senate, Bolsonaro is going against governor Jorginho Mello (PL), who will run for re-election and would prefer to support the re-election of senator Esperidião Amin ().
Passed over by Bolsonaro, Amin should run for the Senate regardless of the agreement between the parties, but his preference was to join the PL ticket, which would also be strategic for Valdemar’s party.
In , the largest electoral college in Brazil, the PL is studying how to enter the majority ticket. The party will support the re-election of Tarcísio, who is already committed to introducing deputy Guilherme Derrite (PP), his former secretary of Public Security, to the Senate.
Given the alliance with the Republicans and the PP, the candidate for the second vacancy in the Senate, which will be nominated by Bolsonaro. In addition, he is also seeking to fill Tarcísio’s position as vice-president, who currently belongs to .
But the dispute is congested on the right in São Paulo, as deputy Ricardo Salles (Novo), Bolsonaro’s former environment minister, announced that he will run for the Senate this year.
As the orientation is to seek support from right-wing and center-right parties, the PL is also working with the possibility of Flávio having more than one platform in certain states, which would be an advantage in relation to (PT).
In Minas Gerais, the scenario is open for right-wing candidates. Vice-governor Matheus Simões (PSD) intends to run for government, supporting the governor (Novo) for the Presidency. Flávio tries to convince Zema to be his deputy, but so far without success.
In another way, senator Cleitinho (Republicanos-MG) seeks to consolidate himself as Bolsonaro’s candidate.
Suspicious that both may not dedicate themselves to campaigning for him, to the government to guarantee a platform, but, according to the senator himself.
On the other hand, the PSDB’s support could take away from Flávio the support of center-right gubernatorial candidates in some states, which is minimized by the senator’s enthusiasts.
The reading is that the dispersion of opposition to Lula in the first round is not bad, considering that there should be a reunification in the second round, with new support for the senator, most likely to advance to the second phase of the dispute against the PT member.
Those who follow the PL’s preparation for the 2026 election also say that the party will be more competitive in terms of candidates for governor than in 2022. In the last national election, the PL launched its own candidates for the Executive in 12 states and elected 2 — Jorginho Mello in Santa Catarina and Cláudio Castro in Rio de Janeiro.
In Mato Grosso, for example, the PL supported Mauro Mendes (União Brasil) for government in 2022. This time, the party wants to have its own platform with Wellington Fagundes (PL), senator elected in the last election.
In Pernambuco, there is a unique situation. The PL works to launch, separately, only one candidate for the Senate. This is the former mayor of Jaboatão Anderson Ferreira. The idea is to concentrate efforts to win at least one senator’s seat in the face of a division on the left in the state, which has a strong Lulu tendency.
