The Brazilian Renewal Labor Party (PRTB) filed on Monday (14) with Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) the substitution of Pablo Marçal by Leonardo Avalanche as its presidential candidate. Avalanche, the party's national president, was the running mate on the original ticket and now moves to the top of it. The new vice presidential candidate is Silvia Hellen da Silva Pereira, born in Anapolis, in the state of Goias.
The filing came on the last day of the legal window to replace candidates for majoritarian races, according to the party. The swap already appears in the TSE's candidate disclosure system, but it still needs the approval of the court's full bench in Brasilia. The case's rapporteur, Justice Estela Aranha, cast the first vote in favor of the substitution on Monday. In a ruling published that night, she granted the party's Registry of Regular Party Acts (DRAP) and declared the PRTB eligible to run in the 2026 election.
"I grant the Registry of Regular Party Acts (DRAP) and, consequently, declare the Brazilian Renewal Labor Party (PRTB) eligible to take part in the 2026 election for president and vice president of the Republic," the justice wrote.
Why Marçal is out
The substitution follows the court's unanimous rejection on Friday (11) of the ticket formed by Marçal and Avalanche. According to the TSE, Marçal failed to prove he had joined a party within the legal deadline, and the former coach remains ineligible until 2032 over a conviction for misuse of media in his 2024 campaign for mayor of Sao Paulo. The Electoral Prosecutor's Office argued that in April, the month of the membership deadline, Marçal was still listed with Uniao Brasil. Aranha also wrote that ruling.
Avalanche, who according to G1 brokered Marçal's entry into the race weeks ago, said in a statement that he will take the top slot to keep their project alive. "We fought until the last minute to keep Pablo in the race. We tried every possible way, but the whole system turned against us," he wrote. "Faced with that, Pablo and I decided together not to give up on Brazil. Since his name was not approved, we will carry on the project under my name, carrying everything we have always defended, side by side, to the end of this race."
According to Jornal Opção, Avalanche's name now appears twice in DivulgaCand, the TSE system that lists candidacies: as vice president, on a ticket already ruled ineligible, and as president, still pending review. The court is also handling, under Justice Nunes Marques, a petition from party member Bruno Marinho Barcelos asking for Avalanche's arrest and removal over suspected irregularities in the use of part of the 3.3 million reais in campaign funds allocated to the PRTB. The next step is a vote by the full TSE bench, which decides whether the Avalanche-Silvia ticket stays in the October race.