The disintegration of the line of succession for the position of governor that began in May 2025 and worsened by criminal investigations led to the scenario in which the state could have up to four heads of the Guanabara Palace in an interval of just over a month.
The scenario began to emerge with the resignation of (PL) on March 23rd. The abandonment of the position occurred on the eve of the (Superior Electoral Court) in order to avoid the revocation of the mandate, which could lead the succession decision to an election by popular vote.
The TSE decided that, due to the resignation before the trial, the choice of the new governor, with a vote of the 70 state deputies.
As vice-governor Thiago Pampolha had already left office in May 2025 to take up a seat at the TCE (State Audit Court), the next in line of succession should be the president of Alerj (Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro).
However, () has been removed from command of Alerj since December 2025, by decision of the minister, of the (Supreme Federal Court). The determination was made due to suspicions of the deputy’s participation in the leak of information about the operation, linked to Comando Vermelho.
As Bacellar was removed by court decision, but did not resign as president of Alerj, the position was occupied on an interim basis by deputy Guilherme Delaroli (PL), vice-president of the Assembly. However, as he is not the holder of the post, he could not take over the Guanabara Palace.
In this way, the second governor of the week became the president of the Court of Justice, judge Ricardo Couto. It is up to him to call the indirect meetings which, by law, must take place by April 22nd.
This Wednesday (25), however, the TSE determined that Bacellar should immediately lose his mandate, making the post of president of Alerj definitively vacant. This obliges the Assembly to elect a new commander within five sessions. Elected, he will become the third governor of the month.
The fourth governor will be chosen by state deputies in an indirect election, as determined by the TSE.
The legislation opens a loophole for the new president of Alerj to also run for Palácio Guanabara. However, for this to happen, he will have to be in office as governor after April 4, the deadline for non-compliance. In this case, in October he will only be able to run for re-election to the Guanabara Palace and, to do so, he must also win the indirect election.
The intricate political web has worsened in recent days with the lack of definition regarding the election rules, under analysis by the STF.
The plenary convened an extraordinary virtual session to define two points: whether it is necessary to respect the six-month period of non-compliance before the election and whether the vote will be secret. The trial ends on Monday (30).
The state law approved in Alerj and sanctioned by Castro provided for a deadline for non-compatibilization of one day after the double vacancy of the positions of governor and vice-president. Voting would be open.
Minister Luiz Fux, in an injunction, revoked these two points, determining the adoption of general six-month rules for non-compatibilization and secret voting.
Before Fux’s decision, the main candidates were state deputy Douglas Ruas (), former secretary Nicola Miccione (Casa Civil) and former president of Alerj André Ceciliano (PT). Everyone would be prevented from running under the new rule, because they held secretarial positions — the first two, in the state government, and the PT member, in the federal government. They left their posts in the last few days to make their candidacy viable in the event of the injunction being revoked.
After Fux’s decision, other names began to move. Among them are deputies Guilherme Delaroli and Chico Machado (Solidarity).
Everyone now awaits the definition in the STF.
