Federal Deputy Ricardo Salles (Novo), a former environment minister under Jair Bolsonaro, dropped his Senate bid for São Paulo on Monday (28). He announced the withdrawal in the final stretch of the campaign, standing next to Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicanos), who is running for reelection, and alongside Guilherme Derrite (PP) and André do Prado (PL), the two candidates he now endorses. According to Folha de S.Paulo, Tarcísio said Salles stepped aside to strengthen the two right-wing bids for the two Senate seats up for grabs in Brazil's most populous state.
For Tarcísio, "it is time to think of a greater goal, which is to have two representatives in the Senate". The governor highlighted the role of Novo, a small right-wing party, in his campaign and said São Paulo is leading what he called a "great movement to unite the right". "It would be very good if we could unite the right in this final stretch. We are doing our part," he said.
"When a person decides to give up a position, we have to praise it. And today we have Ricardo Salles, who had every legitimacy to continue on his path, with a track record, with baggage, with history, taking a step aside to help us, to join forces," Tarcísio said, according to Folha.
Salles said "the moment is so serious that differences must be set aside" and called the reelection of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers' Party) "a catastrophe". The deputy said he still supports Romeu Zema (Novo), the governor of Minas Gerais, for president as long as he remains in the race.
The late reversal
The withdrawal comes with Salles trailing in the polls. A Datafolha survey released on Thursday (24) showed the deputy with 4% of vote intentions. The front-runners were in a statistical tie: Marina Silva (Rede) with 15%, Simone Tebet (PSB) with 14%, and Derrite and Prado with 12% each. The margin of error is two percentage points. Salles had entered the Senate race after Novo decided to back Tarcísio for governor.
The endorsement ends weeks of open conflict with Prado. In a debate hosted by Band, Salles accused the rival of having supported the Workers' Party in the past. At the Folha/Uol debate on September 21, he tried to tie Prado to the centrão, the bloc of large center-right parties that trades congressional support for influence, and called him "Valdemar's cub", a reference to Valdemar da Costa Neto, national president of the PL. Prado told journalists that Salles' candidacy was "hurting" the right and that a vote for him would help Tebet and Marina. In July, Salles had already told Folha he was advised to quit, with three right-wing names fighting for two seats.
Tebet reacted to the announcement by saying Salles "joined the centrão". According to Folha's Painel column, the former minister presents herself as the only center candidate in the race. The first round of Brazil's elections is next Sunday (4). São Paulo elects two senators.