On Sunday (4th), when 5.9 million Pernambuco residents chose their political leaders for the next electoral cycle, the results of the polls signaled internal changes for political groups, with the emergence or rise of new figures, the defeat of long-established political figures in the state, and indications of municipal power dynamics. Brasil de Fato conducted a survey and brings to the reader some of the relevant names who suffered defeats among voters in Pernambuco.
The main name is Mayor João Campos (PSB), who is seen as the natural successor to his father, Eduardo. The political heir received 2.3 million votes (44.8%), insufficient to unseat Governor Raquel Lyra, who received 445,000 more votes (53.3%) and ended the race in the first round. However, PSB remained the most voted party in Pernambuco for the Federal Chamber, with 857,000 votes, electing four parliamentarians (one less than in 2022). In the event of President Lula's re-election, Campos is likely to assume a ministry. Otherwise, he should devote his time exclusively to the party, of which he is the national president. What is certain is that in the next cycle he will spend more time between Brasília and São Paulo than in Pernambuco.
The definitive embrace of the Bolsonaro movement, joining the PL, did not prevent Federal Deputy Mendonça Filho (PL) from suffering another defeat in his attempts to be elected senator. He was 600,000 votes behind the second-placed Marília Arraes (PDT) and 800,000 behind the leader Humberto Costa (PT). Mendonça had attempted the same move in 2018, when he was defeated by Humberto and Jarbas Vasconcelos (MDB), the former leader of Mendonça himself. If Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) is elected president, Mendonça may assume a position in Brasília. In his resume, the years as Minister of Education in the Michel Temer government, a period that will be remembered by students who occupied schools and universities throughout the country.
Eduardo da Fonte (PP) is another federal deputy who was defeated in his attempt to be elected senator. He received 1.3 million votes and came in 4th place. He will leave Congress after 24 years, but he was able to re-elect his son, Lula da Fonte (PP), to the Federal Chamber. In the best-case scenario, Da Fonte may — through the PP's articulations — assume federal positions in the future Lula or Bolsonaro government. There is also the possibility of occupying a high position in Governor Raquel Lyra (PSD), an option also for Mendonça Filho (PL). Da Fonte is the main head of the PP in the state. The party has seen its state (from 10 to 7) and federal (from 3 to 2) benches shrink.
Another federal deputy who lost his seat was Túlio Gadêlha (PSD), who traded a smooth reelection for a senatorial bid, ending the race in 6th place with 671,000 votes, behind even the newcomer Carlos Sant’Anna (Novo). Túlio was always by Raquel Lyra’s (PSD) side during the campaign, with the mission of shielding her from the “Bolsonarista” label that the PSB tried to attach to her. It worked, and the governor was reelected with many Lula supporters. Túlio could be in the 1st tier of Raquel’s government or even, in case of Lula’s (PT) reelection, in the 2nd tier of Brasília.
Another three federal deputies, conservative, will lose their seats at the end of this year: Coronel Meira (PL), elected for the first time in 2022, but now defeated with 55,500 votes; and the evangelical Pastor Eurico (PSDB), who is in his 4th term and had 36,500 votes; and Ossésio Silva (Republicanos), who had 32,900 votes.
Among the evangelicals, but at the state level, pastor Cleiton Collins (PP) will end a 20-year period in the Legislative Assembly in December. With 33,400 votes, he remained as the 3rd substitute for his party. His wife, Michele Collins (PP), ran for a federal seat and, with 31,700 votes, also remained as the 3rd substitute. Alef Collins, the couple’s son, is a Recife city councilor in his first term. The state deputies Joel da Harpa (PP) and William Brígido (PSD), both from the local evangelical bench, were also defeated, remaining as the 5th and 6th substitutes of their respective parties.
Doriel Barros (PT) was the most relevant loss from the progressive field in the Alepe in this election. Former president of the Federation of Workers in Agriculture (Fetape) and the Workers’ Party, Barros received 42,200 votes and remained as the 1st substitute of a bench that has nine names. If one of them takes a position in Raquel Lyra’s government, the PT will return to parliament. The 2nd substitute is also a deputy who completes his first term in December: Gilmar Júnior (PV), one of the leaders in Pernambuco in the fight for the nursing minimum wage.
State Deputy Romero Albuquerque (PSB) did not achieve the same level of engagement as in previous years, and with 27,800 votes, he did not make it into the nine elected by his party, leaving him with the 4th substitute seat for the PSB in the Legislative Assembly of Pernambuco. His wife, Andreza Romero, ran for a federal seat and, with 31,100 votes, came in 3rd substitute. Former federal deputy Daniel Coelho (PSD), who also embraced the animal cause this year, received 59,900 votes and also failed. He had already lost his seat in 2022 and failed in the mayoral race in Recife (2024), receiving 3.2% of the votes and coming in 4th place, despite being the candidate of Governor Raquel Lyra.
Miguel Coelho (UB) is another loser in the race for a seat in the Federal Chamber. However, he secured the 1st substitute seat, having received 102,000 votes – eight thousand less than Clarissa Tércio (PP), who came in 4th place in the PP-União Brasil federation. Former Mayor of Petrolina, Miguel lost the race for the Governorship of the State in 2022, coming in 5th place (884,000 votes). Still with União Brasil, his brothers Fernando Coelho Filho and Antônio Coelho were re-elected to their seats as federal and state deputies.
The municipal elections
In Olinda, former mayor Lupércio Nascimento suffered another defeat in his attempt to secure a seat in the Legislative Assembly. While mayor (2016–2020), he failed twice (2018 and 2022) to elect his wife, Cláudia Cordeiro, as a state deputy. This time, with 22,600 votes, he only secured 8th place as a substitute for the PSD, despite having his successor in the mayor's office, Mirella Almeida, in his favor. He is another one who is likely to gain space in the government of Raquel Lyra or even in the mayor's office of Olinda. Another loser was Izabel Urquiza (PL), who also wants to take over the municipal management that was previously occupied by her mother, Jacilda. Among the mayoral candidates, Vinicius Castello (PCdoB) won a seat in the Alepe, with 49,900 votes.
The city of Paulista saw a similar situation unfold a little further north. The current mayor, Severino Ramos (PSDB), attempted to elect his daughter and former secretary, Amanda Ramos (PSD), as a state deputy, but the 16,600 votes were not enough. The opponent of Ramos in the 2024 second round, state deputy Júnior Matuto (Republicanos), had 28,600 votes, but was also defeated, securing 2nd place as a substitute for a party that only elected one state deputy. The 3rd place candidate in the municipal election was Lívia Álvaro, who migrated to the PL and received 3,200 votes. The Paulistano councilor, Marcelly da Aquarela (Republicanos), had 7,000 votes on Sunday, still far from the necessary amount for a seat in the Federal Chamber.
A different situation occurred on the southern coast. In Ipojuca, the two groups that have been competing for the municipality for decades experienced different emotions on the last day of the election. The group of former mayors, Romero Sales and Célia Sales, lost the only mandate they had, with Romero Filho (PSD) in the Legislative Assembly. He had 38,100 votes and secured 2nd place as a substitute, with the possibility of taking over a seat occasionally, given that his party elected nine state deputies. Célia Sales' mother (PSD) had 14,300 votes for the federal level and secured 4th place as a substitute. Meanwhile, the group led by the current mayor, Carlos Santana (Republicanos), and his wife, state deputy Simone Santana (PSB), saw their daughter receive a resounding 104,000 votes to replace her mother in the Alepe.