Brazil Supreme Court Justice Cuts a Governor’s Allies Days Before the Vote
BRAZIL · PERNAMBUCO · ELECTIONS 2026
Key Facts
- —The country Brazil votes for president, governors and Congress on 4 October. Pernambuco, a north-eastern state of about 9.6 million people around the port city of Recife, is one of the tightest governor’s races.
- —The background Governor Raquel Lyra is running for a second term against João Campos, the former mayor of Recife. Free television and radio airtime is shared out by the size of each alliance’s parties in Congress, so every partner counts.
- —Why now Two allied parties, the PSDB and Cidadania, split over the race. Their state branches backed Lyra on 31 July; their national leaders declared neutrality days later, and the fight reached the courts.
- —What happened On Saturday 26 September Justice Dias Toffoli of the Supreme Federal Court ordered the two parties removed from Lyra’s alliance, overturning Pernambuco’s electoral court.
- —The numbers Ten of the 19 members of the parties’ joint national board had objected before the state convention. The latest polls put Lyra two to four points ahead, within the margin of error.
- —What it means for you Lyra stays on the ballot. The ruling trims her campaign’s airtime in the final days, in a state whose next governor oversees the Suape port and a large car-making hub.
- —Still open How much airtime she loses has not been published, and her campaign says it will appeal.
Eight days before Brazil votes, a justice of the country’s highest court has changed the line-up behind one of its governors. Dias Toffoli ordered two parties removed from the alliance backing Raquel Lyra, who is seeking re-election in the north-eastern state of Pernambuco.
The ruling does not remove Lyra from the ballot. It does cut her free airtime in a race polls call too close to predict, and her campaign says it will appeal.
What the court decided
Toffoli sits on the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Brazil’s constitutional court, which has the final word on the constitution. He signed the order on Saturday 26 September, and it was reported the next day.
He ruled alone, on a complaint filed by Fabiano Jaques Marques, the Pernambuco leader of the Cidadania party. Such complaints go straight to the STF when a lower court is accused of ignoring one of its precedents.
The order removes the PSDB-Cidadania federation from Lyra’s alliance, called Pernambuco de Coração, or “Pernambuco at Heart”. It overturns the Regional Electoral Court of Pernambuco (TRE-PE), the state election court, which had kept the parties in.
Toffoli told the state court to recalculate, urgently, how the free broadcast time is divided. It must treat the federation as neutral in the races for governor and senator.
Why two parties could not choose a side
Since 2021, Brazilian parties may join in a “federation”. They must then act as a single party nationwide for at least four years.
The STF upheld that model in 2022.
The PSDB, the centre-right party of former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, formed such a federation with the smaller Cidadania. In Pernambuco the two wanted different things.
On 31 July the federation’s state convention voted to back Lyra. Six days later a national committee annulled that choice and declared neutrality, O Globo reported.
It was led by Aécio Neves of the PSDB and Alex Manente of Cidadania.
According to O Globo and the Diario de Pernambuco, Cidadania’s national leaders preferred Lyra’s opponent, while the PSDB still supported her. The national committee cited that split when it chose neutrality.
The state court sided with Lyra. It found no earlier formal rule forbidding the alliance, CNN Brasil reported.
It also held that annulling a convention required a prior internal procedure.
Toffoli disagreed. He noted that 10 of the 19 members of the federation’s national board had objected before the convention.
He found no proof that the state branch had first put its plans to that board, as the federation’s rules require. Annulling the convention was therefore not “abuse of power or a violation of due process”, he wrote.
What Lyra loses
The main loss is airtime. Brazilian candidates cannot buy television advertising; broadcasters carry free election programmes instead.
That time is shared out mostly by the size of each alliance’s parties in the federal Chamber of Deputies.
Losing a partner therefore shrinks the slot. Neither the ruling nor the reporting so far gives the new figure in minutes or spots.
That calculation falls to the state court.
The practical window is short. Only two more programmes for state races are due, on 28 and 30 September, g1 reported.
Broadcast campaigning ends on 1 October.
What each side says
Lyra’s alliance told the Diario de Pernambuco that its lawyers were “analysing the full text” and it “will appeal the decision”. It gave no further detail.
In August her campaign called the national move rushed and taken “without prior notice”, O Globo reported.
Rafael Carneiro, the lawyer for Cidadania in Pernambuco, welcomed the ruling. He said Lyra’s alliance had used “a fraud to artificially inflate its advertising time”, and that the court had corrected it.
A race inside the margin of error
Lyra, elected in 2022 as the state’s first woman governor, now runs for the PSD party. Her rival, João Campos of the PSB, is a former mayor of Recife and son of the late governor Eduardo Campos.
A Quaest poll published on 23 September gave Lyra 41 percent and Campos 39, with a three-point margin of error. Datafolha had her at 48 percent to his 44, also within its margin.
Her lead has narrowed since the campaign began in August, when Quaest measured it at eight points. See also the Quaest polls for five state races and Pernambuco’s economic growth.
What comes next
The state electoral court must now redo the airtime split. Lyra’s lawyers can seek a review.
Decisions by a single STF justice can normally be challenged before his colleagues.
Pernambuco votes on 4 October. If no candidate wins more than half the valid votes, the top two meet in a run-off on 25 October.
The ruling does not disqualify Lyra, annul her candidacy or move any votes. It is a dispute over which parties may formally stand behind her and how many seconds of airtime follow them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Raquel Lyra still a candidate for governor of Pernambuco?
Yes. The ruling removes two allied parties from her alliance and cuts her free airtime. It does not affect her candidacy or her place on the ballot on 4 October.
Why did Brazil’s Supreme Court decide this and not the election court?
Pernambuco’s electoral court ruled first and kept the parties in. Cidadania’s state leader then filed a complaint at the Supreme Federal Court, arguing that the ruling ignored the court’s 2022 precedent on party federations.
What is a party federation in Brazil?
It is an alliance of two or more parties that must act as one party nationwide for at least four years. The PSDB and Cidadania formed one, which is why their national board could overrule the state branch.
Can candidates buy TV advertising in Brazil?
No. Broadcasters must air free election programmes, and the time is shared mainly by the size of each alliance’s parties in the federal Chamber of Deputies. That is why losing an ally matters.
Sources: O Globo, Toffoli orders PSDB-Cidadania federation out of Lyra’s alliance, 27 September 2026, Folha de Pernambuco, Blog da Folha, STF orders removal of federation, 27 September 2026, Diario de Pernambuco, STF ruling and Lyra’s appeal, 27 September 2026, CNN Brasil, Toffoli orders federation out of Lyra’s alliance, 27 September 2026, g1 Pernambuco, polls and final campaign week, 27 September 2026, Law 14.208 of 28 September 2021 on party federations, Law 9.504 of 1997, the Elections Law, article 47 on free airtime. All retrieved 27 September 2026. Supreme Federal Court case: Reclamation 99.662.
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