The governor of Paraná, (PSD), confirmed on Monday night (13) that he had chosen federal deputy Sandro Alex to be the candidate for state government in the October elections.
Sandro Alex is serving his fourth term as a federal deputy, but, until the period of disintegration, at the beginning of this month, he commanded the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Logistics, a prestigious department in the Ratinho Junior administration.
Sandro Alex’s main electoral base is Ponta Grossa, the fourth largest city in Brazil. In the 2024 municipal elections, his brother, state deputy Marcelo Rangel (PSD), was defeated in the race for mayor. The election was won by Elizabeth Schmidt (União Brasil) with the involvement of the senator (now in ) in the campaign.
Sandro Alex’s confirmation this Monday caught allies by surprise, as the Secretary of Cities Guto Silva (PSD) was considered the most likely for the vacancy, after the departure of and from the list of PSD pre-candidates.
In the group’s assessment, although Guto Silva had the governor’s personal preference, voting intention polls did not place him as competitive in the race with Moro, who has been in first place so far.
Ratinho Junior intensified his agenda with Guto since the beginning of the year, but, still unsure about his ally’s performance, he avoided putting the hammer down on a name.
With the delay, other PSD politicians interested in the main seat at the Iguaçu Palace decided to leave the party.
The former mayor of Curitiba Rafael Greca migrated to the MDB and the president of the Legislative Assembly, Alexandre Curi, joined the Republicans.
Both say they switched parties to remain pre-candidates for governor, but an alliance between them is not ruled out.
In addition to Sandro Alex, Moro, Curi and Greca, the opposition camp defined the name of state deputy Requião Filho (PDT) to run for governor, in an alliance with the PT.
Ratinho Junior planned to run for the Presidency of the Republic with the PSD, but withdrew in March. The need to prioritize the state election was cited as one of the reasons. The person chosen to be the party’s candidate in the national dispute was, former governor of Goiás.
