Senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) started to treat the PSB as a plan B for a possible candidacy for the government of Minas Gerais in 2026, amid uncertainty in the negotiations to join União Brasil, today treated by interlocutors as their main party alternative. The assessment gained strength behind the scenes after seven former Minas Gerais mayors joined the PSB last week, a move interpreted by allies as part of the senator’s strategy of maintaining an alternative route while deciding his political future in the state. When contacted, Pacheco did not respond.
Behind the scenes, allies report that Pacheco has adopted a strategy of dividing his political group between three parties — PSB, União Brasil and MDB — while awaiting greater clarity on the Minas Gerais electoral scenario and negotiating a possible change of party. The idea, according to interlocutors, is to maintain a presence and open channels in different acronyms until the senator makes a decision on affiliation and candidacy.
The rapprochement with the PSB gained visibility this week with the affiliation of a group of former mayors who intend to set up a “municipalist ticket” to compete for seats in the Chamber of Deputies in 2026. The event took place at the party headquarters in Belo Horizonte and brought together the former mayor of Mariana and former federal deputy Duarte Júnior; the former mayor of Sete Lagoas and also former federal deputy Duílio de Castro; the former mayor of Moema and former president of the Minas Gerais Association of Municipalities (AMM) Julvan Lacerda; the former mayor of Guaranésia Laércio Cintra; the former mayor of Itamarandiba Luís Fernando; the former mayor of Itaúna and former state deputy Neider Moreira; and the former mayor of São José do Goiabal Beto Guimarães.
Behind the scenes of Minas Gerais politics, however, the movement was also interpreted as a sign of rapprochement between Pacheco’s political group and the PSB. Interlocutors claim that part of the senator’s allies have started to occupy space within the party while the parliamentarian himself assesses what his party fate will be.
Privately, Pacheco has told allies that he intends to choose a party “out of affinity with the people”, and not just for electoral convenience. In this context, União Brasil continues to be treated as a priority, mainly due to its political relationship with the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), one of its main allies in Brasília.
Despite this, negotiations with União Brasil face obstacles in Minas. The party is federated with the PP and has among its main leaders in the state the Government Secretary of Governor Romeu Zema (Novo), Marcelo Aro, which reduces the political space for the eventual arrival of the senator. In recent weeks, however, the possibility of Aro leaving União Brasil and migrating to Podemos, a party that is also controlled by his political group in the state, began to circulate among interlocutors. If the movement is confirmed, Pacheco’s allies believe that the party’s doors would open again.
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Another alternative considered in recent weeks was the MDB, but it ended up being discarded. During a lunch held in Pacheco’s functional apartment, in Brasília, the senator discussed the Minas Gerais electoral scenario with leaders of the party, including the president of the MDB in Minas, deputy Newton Cardoso Jr., the former councilor of Belo Horizonte Gabriel Azevedo and deputy Aécio Neves (PSDB).
In the conversation, according to participants at the meeting, Pacheco stated that the MDB would not be an option for membership at this time, as the party already has a pre-candidate for the state government, Azevedo himself. The senator considered that it would not make sense to join the party while this candidacy is in place, also highlighting that he maintains a friendly relationship with the former councilor.
Faced with a scenario still under construction, allies assess that the strategy of spreading his political group across different parties allows Pacheco to preserve negotiation room while the Minas Gerais electoral board is reorganized. In this arrangement, the PSB came to be seen as a concrete alternative if negotiations with União Brasil do not progress. Talks about a possible departure from the PSD gained strength after the party joined the vice-governor of Minas Gerais, Mateus Simões, an ally of governor Romeu Zema. The movement was interpreted by the senator’s allies as a gesture that reduces his political space within the party in the state.
Despite the articulations, Pacheco has publicly maintained a cautious speech. To interlocutors, he states that he has not yet made a decision on whether or not to run for the Minas Gerais government, but he also does not intend to rule out the possibility at this time.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, however, has told allies that the senator will be his candidate for the government of Minas.
