Deputy of Zema changes name and hits the road for 2026 – 02/26/2023 – Politics

The Novo party and its main national star, the governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema, shaped and now put on public display the possible political heir of the current head of the state executive branch. The chosen one is Mateus Simões (Novo), deputy of Zema.

After two consecutive victories for Palácio Tiradentes, the governor bets on Simões to transfer his legacy. The tactic even involves changing the preferred name. Mateus Simões is now Professor Mateus.

Another step was to repeat what Zema had done since the beginning of his second term and put the deputy to rotate the state. In 41 days of government, until February 10, Professor Mateus visited at least 9 cities in the interior of the state, in regions with expressive electoral colleges such as Triângulo Mineiro, Norte and Vale do Aço.

The maneuver had already been used by Zema throughout his first term. The governor was elected as a dark horse in 2018, beating groups of former chiefs of Minas Gerais politics such as Aécio Neves (PSDB) and Fernando Pimentel (PT).

With an eye on re-election, which he won, Zema mixed the official agenda and contacts with the population in the countryside. In some cities he distributed masks to protect against the new coronavirus.

The sheets in Professor Mateus indicate two scenarios, which are interconnected. The first is to try to guarantee Zema’s influence in the state at the end of his term.

The other is to use that influence in Minas, the second largest electoral college in the country, and project himself for a possible candidacy for the Presidency in 2026. The governor of Minas Gerais has already admitted this possibility.

“If we do a good second term, who knows?”, he said in his victory speech in the first round of last year’s election, after hearing shouts of “Zema president”.

If he meets the conditions to run for the Planalto Palace, the governor would have to leave his post in April 2026, due to the lack of compatibility, with Professor Mateus taking charge of the state.

On the trips he has already made through the interior, Zema’s deputy inaugurated a police station, was a patron of graduates and participated in meetings with local politicians. He also surveyed rain damage and complained about the condition of a federally managed road.

Zema’s chosen one, however, gave a small sample of the strategy he would adopt as vice-president even before taking office.

Still on the night of the graduation of the elected candidates, on December 19, Professor Mateus arrived at Praça da Liberdade, full of visitors attracted by the Christmas lights, and recorded videos talking to people and introducing himself as vice graduate.

Professor Mateus, 41, is a central figure in Novo and in the government of Minas Gerais. He began his political career as a councilor in Belo Horizonte. In Zema’s first term, he was general secretary of the government. In 2020 he was sent by Novo to Joinville (SC) to assist in the transition process in the city, the first in the country to have a party mayor.

He is also a very close adviser to Zema. Also in his victory speech, he gave directions to the governor on how to position himself in front of reporters’ cameras. “Always looking ahead”, he said, in Zema’s ear.

Professor Mateus’s first trip to the interior was on January 13, for a task usually carried out by governors. The deputy was in Antônio Dias, in the Rio Doce Valley, to inspect the damage caused by heavy rains in the region.

On the 18th, he met with political leaders in Montes Claros (north) and heard demands for improvements in state roads that cross the region. In a video on social networks made at the time, the deputy appears on the banks of the federal highway BR-251, which connects Montes Claros to Salinas, also in the north of the state, complaining about the poor maintenance of the road. “Only those who have never been here don’t know the danger of this road”, he said in the recording.

On February 3, a Friday, the trip went to Uberaba, in Triângulo Mineiro, where Professor Mateus inaugurated a police station to combat crimes committed in rural areas, the first in the state specifically for this function. The following day he was in Araxá, Zema’s birthplace, for a meeting with political leaders.

On Thursday of the following week, the 9th, the deputy went to Timóteo, in Vale do Aço, for a meeting at Armva (Development Agency for the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Aço). He was also in three other municipalities in the region: Ipatinga, Coronel Fabriciano and Santana do Paraíso.

On the 10th, Professor Mateus participated as patron of the graduation of students from Unifei (Federal University of Itajubá) in Itabira, in the central region of the state.

The deputy’s resume on the government website states that the adoption of the new name was due to the fact that Professor Mateus had worked as a teacher for 19 years, in schools such as Faculdade Milton Campos and Fundação Dom Cabral, both in Belo Horizonte.

The report contacted the deputy, the state government and the Novo party. There was no return.