The PSDB wants to come back. It won't happen.
Em Ceará, o Partido dos Trabalhadores formalizou o que já se desenhava no horizonte político: a candidatura do governador Elmano de Freitas à reeleição, aprovada por unanimidade diante de aliados que representam décadas de construção partidária no estado. O gesto não foi apenas burocrático — foi uma declaração de que o campo progressista chegará a 2026 unido, com um histórico de obras e programas sociais como escudo e lança. Do outro lado, Ciro Gomes aguarda, carregando o peso de uma condenação por violência política de gênero e de uma aliança com a direita que seus adversários não deixarão o eleitor esquecer.
- O PT cearense encerrou meses de especulação ao homologar Elmano por unanimidade, sinalizando coesão interna em um estado onde divisões históricas já custaram eleições.
- A presença de ministros federais, senadores e do prefeito de Fortaleza no mesmo salão revelou a dimensão das apostas: uma derrota em Ceará seria sentida muito além das fronteiras do estado.
- Elmano foi à ofensiva, lembrando que o PSDB governou por vinte anos sem construir um único hospital e que Ciro Gomes foi condenado por violência política de gênero — contrastes calculados para definir o terreno moral da disputa.
- A chapa ainda é um esboço: vice-governador, candidato ao Senado e demais posições aguardam rodadas de negociação com PSB, PSD, MDB e Republicanos previstas para julho e agosto.
- O adversário não é fraco — Ciro Gomes tem nome, trajetória e agora o apoio do PL local — e a campanha que se inicia promete ser a mais acirrada que o Ceará viu em anos.
Na tarde de sábado, o PT cearense tornou oficial o que já era esperado: Elmano de Freitas disputará a reeleição ao governo do estado. A diretoria partidária votou por unanimidade em reunião fechada, e o anúncio ganhou forma pública na cerimônia de inauguração da nova sede do partido, onde o governador discursou para militantes e aliados.
O salão reunia peso político considerável. José Guimarães, ministro das relações institucionais, estava ao lado do senador Camilo Santana e do prefeito de Fortaleza, Evandro Leitão — todos do PT, todos com interesse direto no resultado de 2026. O presidente estadual do partido, Antônio Conin Filho, descreveu o clima como de mobilização, com lideranças de todo o Ceará prontas para a campanha. A candidatura seguirá para aprovação do diretório nacional, etapa considerada protocolar.
Elmano usou o palanque para atacar o principal adversário, Ciro Gomes, recém-lançado pelo PSDB. Lembrou que o partido governou o Ceará por vinte anos sem construir um hospital sequer, e destacou a condenação recente de Gomes por violência política de gênero contra a prefeita Janaína Farias, de Crateús. Em contraste, citou as seis Casas da Mulher inauguradas por sua gestão. Também criticou a aliança de Gomes com o PL local, sugerindo que o adversário ataca o governo federal com mentiras enquanto silencia sobre escândalos envolvendo Flávio Bolsonaro por conveniência política.
O que ainda falta definir é quase tudo que compõe uma chapa completa. O vice-governador, o candidato ao Senado e outros nomes aguardam negociações com partidos aliados — PSB, PSD, MDB e Republicanos — que devem se concluir nas convenções de julho ou agosto. Elmano já iniciou conversas com o senador Cid Gomes, do PSB, cotado para vice, e com os irmãos Domingos Filho e Domingos Neto, do PSD. Encontros com Eunício Oliveira e Chiquinho Feitosa estão previstos. A estrutura do PT está mobilizada; os contornos finais da aliança, ainda por desenhar.
On Saturday afternoon, the Workers' Party in Ceará made it official: Governor Elmano de Freitas would seek another term. The state party directorate voted unanimously to nominate him, a formality that carried real weight in a state where political power has shifted hands repeatedly over decades. The decision came during a closed-door meeting of party leadership, then moved to a public ceremony at the party's newly inaugurated headquarters, where Elmano addressed the assembled militants.
The governor framed the moment as a turning point. For months, he said, the opposition had done nothing but talk about the coming election while his administration built schools and roads. Now, he suggested, the real campaign would begin. "The PSDB wants to come back," he told the crowd. "It won't happen." The reference was direct: his main challenger would be Ciro Gomes, a former governor and senator from the opposition PSDB party, who had just been nominated to run against him.
The room that made the decision included some of Ceará's most powerful figures. José Guimarães, the federal minister of institutional relations, sat alongside Senator Camilo Santana and Fortaleza's mayor, Evandro Leitão—all PT members, all with stakes in the outcome. Antônio Conin Filho, the state party president, described the mood as energized, with regional leaders from across Ceará ready to begin the work ahead. The nomination would now move to the party's national executive for final approval, a procedural step unlikely to encounter resistance.
What remained unsettled was everything else. Elmano said he had not yet decided who would run alongside him for the other statewide offices—the vice governor, the Senate seat, and other positions that would round out the ticket. Those decisions would wait until the party conventions scheduled for late July or early August, he explained, giving time for negotiations with allied parties to reach their natural conclusion. He had already begun those conversations: meetings this week with Senator Cid Gomes of the PSB, who was being discussed as a possible running mate, and with two brothers named Domingos—Domingos Filho and Domingos Neto of the PSD. More talks were planned with Eunício Oliveira of the MDB and Chiquinho Feitosa of the Republicanos, both being considered for a Senate run.
Elmano used the platform to draw sharp contrasts with Gomes. He recalled that the PSDB had governed Ceará for twenty years—a period that included Gomes's own time as governor—and in all that time had built not a single hospital, despite the state's desperate need for medical infrastructure. More recently, Gomes had been convicted of gender-based political violence for attacks he made against Janaína Farias, a PT mayor in the interior municipality of Crateús. Elmano pointed to his own administration's creation of six Women's Houses across the state as evidence of a different approach. He also criticized Gomes's alliance with the far-right PL party in Ceará, suggesting that Gomes was willing to attack the federal government with lies but remained silent about corruption involving Flávio Bolsonaro because of his local political entanglements.
The campaign ahead will test whether Elmano's record of infrastructure and social programs can overcome whatever momentum Gomes brings to the race. The opposition candidate carries his own political weight—a former governor and senator with name recognition across the state. But Elmano now had the machinery of the PT behind him, the backing of allied parties still being negotiated, and a message centered on what his government had done rather than what his opponent had failed to do. The real work of the election, he suggested, was only beginning.
Notable Quotes
We're heading into a political and electoral battle. The opposition has only talked about elections. We were busy building schools and roads, and we'll keep doing it. But now the opposition should prepare itself, because now the PT's activists are entering the field.— Governor Elmano de Freitas
We made a balance of the management, of this first term of Elmano leading the state government. At the same time, we heard from the activists and leaders from all regions of the state, energized and ready to begin this journey we started today.— Antônio Conin Filho, president of PT Ceará
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does the PT move so quickly to nominate Elmano when the election is still more than a year away?
It's about momentum and signal. By making it official now, they're telling their own base that this is settled, that the party is unified behind him. It also forces the opposition to respond—Ciro's already been nominated, so now both sides are locked in.
But Elmano hasn't even chosen his running mate yet. Doesn't that seem incomplete?
It would, except that's normal in Brazilian politics. The real negotiations happen with allied parties. You can't pick a vice governor until you know which party gets that slot, and that depends on what each party demands in return for their support.
What's the significance of Elmano attacking Ciro's gender violence conviction?
It's a way of saying the PSDB's record isn't just about economics or infrastructure—it's about values. Elmano is positioning himself as the candidate who actually cares about women's rights, not just someone who talks about it.
The PSDB governed for twenty years and built zero hospitals. How does Ciro defend that?
He probably argues that the state's finances were constrained, or that other priorities came first. But Elmano's point is simpler: if you had twenty years and couldn't build one hospital, why should people trust you now?
Is this race already decided, or is Ciro actually competitive?
Too early to say. Elmano has the machinery and the record, but Ciro has experience and name recognition. The race will likely tighten as it gets closer. What matters now is whether Elmano can keep his coalition together through the conventions.