Lula and Flávio, however, target each other with effective metaphors. “Lula is an Opal [carro antigo] old man”, said the PL candidate. “I had a 94 Opala, it was turbocharged, if he knew my Opala he wouldn’t speak… Old Opala is his father who is already in the dismantling shop”.
With the current president already having a vice-president, the other candidates are now looking for someone to complete them. In Flávio’s camp there is talk of Senator Tereza Cristina, Minister of Agriculture in the Bolsonaro government, to empty Caiado’s historic connection to agribusiness. Caiado, as he is from a state, Goiás, outside the major centers, prioritizes someone from the Southeast region, which concentrates 43% of Brazil’s population and is the country’s economic engine, preferably from the evangelical segment.
But the vice candidate of both their dreams is… Romeu Zema, who for now guarantees to run on his own.
LULA DA SILVA (PT)
He is a candidate for re-election and an unprecedented fourth term. He leads in the polls but could be overtaken in a second round if the right unites. Age, 80 years old, and government without a relevant brand are seen as weaknesses.
FLAVIO BOLSONARO (PL)
Appointed by his father, he hopes to inherit his electoral spoils – more than 58 million votes in 2022. Senator, he is 44 years old, has no executive experience but is known as the least radical member of the Bolsonaro family. He is second in the polls.
RONALDO CAIADO (PSD)
A veteran of the Brazilian right, he ran in the first post-redemocratization elections in 1989 and is running again now, at 76, after eight years as highly rated governor of Goiás. He represents the “third way”.
ROMEO ZEMA (NEW)
Surprise winner of the 2018 elections for the government of Minas Gerais, the second most populous state in Brazil, he was re-elected in 2022 and is now approved by more than 60% of Minas Gerais. The 59-year-old businessman is almost an ultra-liberal in the economy.
RENAN SANTOS (MISSION)
Even younger than Flávio, 42 years old, and even more liberal in the economy than Zema, he founded the Movimento Brasil Livre, a group that stood out in demonstrations for the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff. Start scoring in polls.
ALDO REBELO (DC)
He held one ministry in Lula’s first government and three in Dilma’s presidency, but over time he left the Communist Party of Brazil for Christian Democracy and is now a right-wing nationalist. He’s 70 years old.
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