PT and PL can have direct clashes in up to 13 capitals – 04/05/2024 – Power

Parties that polarized the presidential election and owners of the largest parties in the Chamber of Deputies, PT and PL, have joined new pre-candidates for the October elections and could face each other in up to 12 capitals.

The new scenario was consolidated with the end of the deadline for membership, which ends this Saturday (6) for politicians who will face the polls in October. At least 20 pre-candidates for mayor in the 26 capitals changed parties in the last month, during the party window period.

The current panorama is of clashes in Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Curitiba, Manaus, Goiânia, Cuiabá, Campo Grande, João Pessoa, Maceió, Aracaju, Florianópolis and Vitória. But the tendency is for negotiations that could result in withdrawals until the convention period, between July and August.

Jair Bolsonaro’s party showed appetite in the party window and with the new members it now has pre-candidacies in 19 of the 26 capitals. Of these, 4 joined the party in the last month to run in Florianópolis (SC), Rio Branco (AC), Campo Grande (MS) and Aracaju (SE).

The names reached the PL with the approval of the former president, who in recent weeks toured the country and approved the membership forms of the new supporters.

One of them is the mayor of Rio Branco, Tião Bocalom, who left the PP for the PL last week amid disagreements with governor Gladson Cameli (PP). The tendency is for a split between Bolsonaro’s allies, as the PP is expected to run for mayor with state secretary Alysson Bestene.

Florianópolis, Campo Grande and Porto Velho are also on track to have more than one candidacy in the Bolsonaro camp, but in these cases there is room for dialogue between local political forces.

In the capital of Santa Catarina, the PL presented the name of former deputy Bruno Souza, who was affiliated with Novo. The affiliation cooled negotiations with Mayor Topázio Neto (PSD), who will run for a new term and is trying to attract the PL to his coalition.

The scenario is similar in Campo Grande, where the former president chose former deputy Rafael Tavares as his candidate, placing the PL in the opposite field to that of mayor Adriana Lopes (PP). She is supported by Senator Tereza Cristina (PP), who was Minister of Agriculture in the last administration.

The definition of one’s own candidacy has intensified the local political scene, which is heading towards a dispersion of candidates from PT, PSDB, MDB and União Brasil, all with names considered competitive.

The PL also has a robust candidacy in Aracaju with the support of councilor Emília Corrêa, one of the most combative names in the opposition to mayor Edvaldo Nogueira (PDT).

There is still ongoing negotiation in Porto Velho (RO), where federal deputy Fernando Máximo wants to exchange União Brasil for PL, imploding the possibility of a large right-wing alliance around former deputy Mariana Carvalho (Republicans).

Without the same appetite as its main national opponent, the PT adopted a different strategy and was surgical in attracting names from other parties to compete for the capitals.

In the party window, the only new member who joined the party was former federal deputy Marcelo Ramos, who left the PSD for the PT to run for Mayor of Manaus.

Ramos’s move to the PT was articulated by President Lula himself, who was looking for a strong platform in the capital of Amazonas to face Mayor David Almeida (Avante) and representatives of Bolsonarism such as Captain Alberto Neto (PL) and Coronel Menezes (PP).

“This completely changes my life plan, as I was experiencing my moment of greatest personal peace and professional prosperity. But it’s a request from the president, let’s fight,” stated Ramos, who will still need to unify the party in Manaus around your name.

He was vice-president of the Chamber between 2021 and March 2022 and stood out for his critical profile of Bolsonaro. He was a member of the PL, but left the party days after the then president joined the party, in November 2021.

Last December, the PT joined state deputy Evandro Leitão, with an eye on the dispute for Fortaleza City Hall.

Leitão was a member of the PDT and was one of the closest names to senator Cid Gomes, who also left the party and migrated to the PSB. The movement was endorsed by former PT governor and current minister Camilo Santana (Education).

To consolidate his candidacy, however, Leitão needs to face a fierce internal dispute that includes four other pre-candidates for mayor. Of these, federal deputy Luizianne Lins, who was mayor from 2005 to 2012, emerges as her main opponent.

The PT, which did not elect any capital mayor in 2020, has pre-candidates in 16 of the 26 capitals. Among the largest cities, the party will give up its own candidacy in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Recife, but negotiations with allies will continue until the conventions.

Among the other parties, the MDB was one of those that gained the most muscle in recent weeks, with the arrival of four new pre-candidates for mayor: Gabriel Azevedo (Belo Horizonte), Igor Normando (Belém), Euma Tourinho (Porto Velho) and Dr. Furlan, who is the current mayor of Macapá (AP).

Last August, the party had already affiliated the former mayor of Rio Branco Marcos Alexandre, who was elected in 2016 by the PT. He will run for a new term with the support of PT members and articulates the support of sectors of the right. In total, the MDB has pre-candidates in 13 capitals.

Another ally of Lula who disputes the prevalence among the centrist parties, the PSD was more timid and its main novelty is former deputy Daniel Coelho, who must oppose mayor João Campos (PSB) in Recife with the support of governor Raquel Lyra (PSDB).

Among the current managers, the mayor of Teresina, Dr. Pessoa, also changed parties. Politically isolated, he left the Republicans and joined the PRD, a new party that emerged from the merger of PTB with Patriota.