For this year’s mayoral election in Fortaleza, Ceará’s capital city, the local Workers’ Party (known in Portuguese as PT) chose state deputy Evandro Leitão as its pre-candidate. The PT member is now another character in the complex machinery of the Fortaleza election, which will also include the candidacy of the current mayor, José Sarto (Democratic Labor Party, or PDT, in Portuguese), who will seek re-election, and the definition of the candidate to be supported by Bolsonaro.
In an interview with Brasil de Fato, Elmano de Freitas (Workers’ Party), governor of Ceará, spoke about the political scenario in Fortaleza and showed himself optimistic about Leitão's candidacy, which he will support.
“The election in Fortaleza will probably be a very intense one... We're very confident that Evandro's candidacy will grow... We have been very humble in listening to the population, and we are going to listen to the population in plenary sessions. Evandro Leitão, who is a deputy in his third term, is a new name for voters, but he will have significant popular support,” said Freitas.
In Fortaleza, six Workers’ Party members have put themselves forward to represent the party in the municipal election. Among them is the former mayor of Fortaleza, Luizianne Lins, who governed Ceará’s capital city between 2005 and 2012. During internal discussions of her party, she was ruled out for Evandro Leitão, a political ally of Senator Cid Gomes (Brazilian Socialist Party, or PSB, in Portuguese), who broke ties with his brother, Ciro Gomes, and may formally support the Workers’ Party candidate in the coming weeks.
An imbroglio involving Cid Gomes could be over the Workers’ Party's choice for vice-president. The PSB senator wants it to be someone from his party, but so do other parties expected to support Evandro Leitão's candidacy. Elmano de Freitas asks for patience for next decisions.
“Cid is right to demand we have a programmatic discussion for the city. Cid has always discussed projects and proposals. In this process, we will choose a name [for vice-president]. I think the most important moment is the proposals. There will be a time to discuss the vice-presidential candidate,” explained the governor.
The latest electoral poll released on the race for Fortaleza mayor, with Evandro Leitão's name on the list, shows the PT candidate in fourth place, with 8.3% of voting intentions. Federal deputy Capitão Wagner (Union Brazil) leads with 33.3%, followed by José Sarto, who has 20.1% of the votes, and federal deputy André Fernandes (Liberal Party), with 12.1%.
To be a candidate, Fernandes needs to ensure the preference of former president Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party). Senator Eduardo Girão (Novo Party) also wants the former president on his platform, but he is on the outside.
Read the full interview with Elmano de Freitas:
Brasil de Fato: As in several Brazilian capitals, Fortaleza will probably see a dispute between a Workers’ Party candidate, Evandro Leitão, and a candidate supported by Bolsonaro, who will probably be André Fernandes or Eduardo Girão. However, in Fortaleza, there is a particularity, a third name, which is well consolidated: José Sarto, the current mayor. Leitão is trailing behind Sarto and Wagner in the polls. It's a complex scenario five months away from the election.
Elmano de Freitas: The election in Fortaleza will probably be a very intense contest, especially in the second round. We have at least four candidates who will be running, including Evandro Leitão, who the Workers’ Party chose to represent us.
Now, we're going to move forward and choose a government program for the city. We have many challenges: public health, integrating the state with the municipality in the public security sector... In short, presenting a set of proposals for the real problems that people face in their daily lives.
We're very confident that Evandro's candidacy will grow a lot. We've had a process since 2022, when we (Workers’ Party) split with the PDT and presented our own candidacy – in this case my candidacy – which was victorious in the first round. However, the election in Fortaleza is different.
So we've been very humble in listening to the population, and we're going to listen to them in plenary sessions. Evandro Leitão, a deputy in his third term, is a new name for voters, but he will have significant popular support.
What role will Luizianne Lins and Cid Gomes play in the election?
Luizianne will play a major role in the election, due to her leadership in Fortaleza. [She is] A former mayor who gave us a lot of pride, by prioritizing the poorest, working in education, and creating the Fortaleza Women's Hospital. She has a very important political presence.
Cid Gomes has broken politically with his brother, and we've been talking about reaching an understanding with him, who is a very experienced figure in Ceará's political processes, someone I've had as an adversary and ally. I know how strong he is. We can certainly count on him.
But our strongest political leaders are our former governor Camilo Santana and President Lula.
Cid is right to demand we have a programmatic discussion for the city. Cid has always discussed projects and proposals. In this process, we will choose a name [for vice-president]. I think the most important moment is proposals. There will be a time to discuss the vice-presidential candidate, Cid's PSB has a name; PSD and MDB have their own names, so we will have to reach a consensus to have the best slate for Fortaleza.
You have been working on the main Workers’ Party candidacies in some capitals and following the political alliances being built by the party behind the scenes. How do you imagine the Workers’ Party will perform in this year's elections? In 2020, the party did not elect a mayor in any capital city.
The Workers’ Party's performance will differ from region to region. In the Northeast region, for example, it could be very positive, but we'll have to calculate what is the result of the party and what is the result of the alliance that allowed President Lula to be elected.
Our tactical priority is to strengthen a group that can confront Bolsonaro later. But, look, within our side, there are also disputes. In my home state, we have several Workers’ Party disputes with the PSB or the MDB in various municipalities.
I think it's right for the party to prioritize municipalities where we have a real chance of winning, and where we have the political conditions to win. Winning municipal elections is very important because it has political and ideological consequences for 2026. I think the Workers’ Party will have a much better result than we had in the last election.
Edited by: Matheus Alves de Almeida
