We know what's at stake in this country.
Em maio de 2022, Fernando Haddad expressou o desejo de replicar em São Paulo a aliança nacional entre Lula e Alckmin — um gesto que revelava tanto a ambição do PT quanto a complexidade de unir forças em torno de um estado que concentra quase um quarto do eleitorado brasileiro. A política, como sempre, exige que o ideal da unidade se confronte com a realidade das ambições particulares. Haddad falava de respeito e coesão, mas também de candidatura própria — e nessa tensão residia o verdadeiro drama da esquerda paulista.
- Com 22% do eleitorado nacional em jogo, São Paulo se tornava o campo de batalha mais cobiçado da eleição de 2022, e o PT não podia se dar ao luxo de chegar dividido.
- As negociações entre PT e PSB emperravam porque o PSB tinha seu próprio candidato, Márcio França, e nenhum dos dois partidos queria abrir mão da cabeça de chapa no estado mais rico do país.
- Haddad apostava no efeito simbólico da aliança Lula-Alckmin para legitimar sua candidatura estadual, mas a lógica nacional não se traduzia automaticamente para o plano local.
- Enquanto poupava Alckmin, Haddad mirava em Doria, pintando o governador saído como um líder que escolheu o protagonismo individual em detrimento da ação coletiva — especialmente na pandemia.
- Diante de administradores hospitalares, Haddad já se comportava como governador em campanha, apresentando propostas concretas de saúde pública e prometendo levá-las a todos os candidatos, independentemente do desfecho das negociações.
Fernando Haddad estava diante de administradores hospitalares em São Paulo numa segunda-feira de maio quando deixou claro o que queria: dividir palanques com Geraldo Alckmin pelo estado. O ex-prefeito e ex-ministro do PT via na aliança nacional entre Lula e Alckmin um modelo a ser replicado localmente — e esperava ser ele o candidato a governador a colher os frutos dessa união.
A lógica era direta, mas a política era tortuosa. São Paulo concentra 22% do eleitorado brasileiro, um peso que nenhum partido ignora. PT e PSB estavam em negociações, mas o PSB tinha Márcio França como candidato próprio, e nenhum dos lados demonstrava disposição de recuar. "É natural que os partidos queiram seu candidato em São Paulo", disse Haddad, com a cautela de quem sabe que a unidade se constrói — ou se desfaz — nos bastidores.
Se foi comedido com Alckmin, Haddad não poupou João Doria. Sem nomear explicitamente os erros, traçou o perfil de um governador que governou sozinho quando poderia ter construído pontes — sobretudo durante a pandemia. A crítica era também uma promessa implícita de um estilo diferente de liderança.
Ao receber uma proposta de saúde dos administradores, Haddad respondeu com seu próprio histórico como prefeito e com iniciativas que, segundo ele, poderiam ser ampliadas para o nível estadual. Já pensava como governador. A mesma proposta seria enviada ao PSB e a outros candidatos — o campo ainda estava em formação.
No fundo, Haddad comunicava uma disposição condicional: estava aberto à unidade, desde que fosse ele a carregar a bandeira do PT. As negociações continuariam, e seu desfecho moldaria não apenas a disputa pelo governo de São Paulo, mas o tom de toda a campanha de 2022.
Fernando Haddad stood before hospital administrators in São Paulo on a Monday in May, laying out his vision for the state's future. The former mayor and ex-minister of the Workers' Party wanted something specific: to share the campaign stage with Geraldo Alckmin, the ex-governor who had just pivoted from the PSDB to become Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's running mate in the presidential race. "I expect to stand on platforms across São Paulo cities with him," Haddad said. "I believe we'll have a representative of the Lula-Alckmin ticket in the second round, and I hope that will be me."
The arithmetic was simple but the politics were tangled. São Paulo accounts for 22 percent of Brazil's electorate—a prize too large to ignore. Haddad acknowledged what seemed obvious: a unified left-wing slate, mirroring the alliance Lula and Alckmin had forged at the national level, would be the strongest play. But the PT and the PSB were stuck in negotiations. The PSB had its own candidate in Márcio França, another former governor, and neither party wanted to surrender its claim to the state's top job. "It's natural that parties want their own candidate in São Paulo," Haddad said, speaking to the hospital leaders. "We're discussing it. Whatever happens, we'll run a respectful campaign. We know what's at stake in this country."
He was careful with Alckmin—sparing the man who had governed São Paulo for eight years under the PSDB banner. But he was not careful with João Doria, the outgoing governor who had led the state through the pandemic and left office deeply unpopular. Haddad sketched a portrait of a leader who had chosen personality over collective action, who might have built bridges to governors in the Northeast and Southeast but instead governed alone. During the covid crisis, Haddad suggested, Doria could have done better. The implication hung in the air: São Paulo needed a change.
When the hospital administrators presented him with a health-care proposal, Haddad responded with his own record. As São Paulo's mayor, he had launched initiatives he believed could be scaled up to the state level—measures designed to shrink the waiting lists that plagued Brazil's public health system. He was already thinking like a governor, already sketching the shape of a platform. The PSB would receive the same proposal. So would other candidates. The field was still forming.
What Haddad was really saying, beneath the careful language about respect and unity, was this: the left in São Paulo wanted to win, and it wanted to do so without tearing itself apart. The national alliance between Lula and Alckmin had shocked many in the PT—a former PSDB governor, a man from the center-right, now on the ticket. If that could happen at the presidential level, why not in the state? But the answer was complicated. Parties are not monoliths. Ambitions do not dissolve easily. And São Paulo, with its size and its wealth and its symbolic weight, was a prize that no faction wanted to surrender.
Haddad left the hospital that day having made his position clear: he was open to unity, but only if he was the one carrying the PT's banner. He was willing to campaign alongside Alckmin, but only if he won the nomination first. The negotiations would continue. The outcome would shape not just São Paulo's election, but the entire 2022 campaign.
Citas Notables
I expect to stand on platforms across São Paulo cities with him. I believe we'll have a representative of the Lula-Alckmin ticket in the second round, and I hope that will be me.— Fernando Haddad
It's natural that parties want their own candidate in São Paulo. We're discussing it. Whatever happens, we'll run a respectful campaign.— Fernando Haddad
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does Haddad spend so much energy praising Alckmin while criticizing Doria? They're both from the same party.
Because Alckmin just made a historic move—he left the PSDB to join Lula's ticket. That's a rupture, a signal that the old center-right consensus is breaking. Doria represents continuity with that old order. Haddad is trying to say: we can work with people who change, who see the moment we're in.
But the PT and PSB still can't agree on a single candidate for governor. How does that square with all this talk of unity?
It doesn't, not yet. Both parties want to claim victory in São Paulo. Haddad is saying he's open to the Lula-Alckmin model—one party takes the top, the other takes second—but only if the PT gets the top. It's unity on his terms.
What's really at stake in São Paulo that makes it so different from other states?
Twenty-two percent of Brazil's voters live there. It's not just a state election; it's a referendum on whether the left can govern the country's economic engine. Whoever wins São Paulo shapes the narrative for everything that follows.
Does Haddad actually believe he can beat Doria's unpopularity, or is he just reading the room?
Both. Doria is genuinely toxic—his pandemic response was chaotic and his style alienated people. But Haddad is also being strategic. He's saying: I can offer continuity with what worked before, plus new ideas. He's not running against Doria so much as running for what comes next.