Who Runs São Paulo? The Fight Behind the Ticket

São Paulo is Brazil’s largest state, with 46 million people and an economy bigger than Argentina’s. Whoever governs it commands the most powerful political machine in the country, which is why a backstage fight over the vice-governor slot matters far beyond state borders. This is part of The Rio Times’ daily coverage of Brazil politics and Latin American financial news.

In 2022, Tarcísio de Freitas was an outsider — an infrastructure engineer with no elected office experience and no network in São Paulo. He needed Gilberto Kassab, a former São Paulo mayor and chairman of PSD, one of Brazil’s largest parties, who knew every mayor and every deal.

Kassab delivered. He assembled the coalition, arranged the running mate — Felício Ramuth, a loyalist he personally brought into the PSD — and took the key cabinet post of government secretary, earning the label “strongman” of the administration.

Three years later, the apprentice has outgrown the mentor. Tarcísio has privately told allies there is no chance Kassab will be his running mate, and that he wants to keep Ramuth instead. The irony is sharp: the man Kassab installed as vice has become more loyal to the governor than to his own party chairman.

Kassab-Tarcísio Power Struggle Intensifies

Coalition partners are piling on. Leaders from Republicanos, MDB, and Podemos accuse Kassab of using his government post to poach lawmakers, including six state deputies lured from the PSDB. Tarcísio responded by installing a new chief of staff from his own party with orders to contain PSD’s expansion, effectively hollowing out Kassab’s role.

The tension has gone public. In January, Kassab warned that Tarcísio needed his own identity separate from ex-president Bolsonaro, cautioning against “submission” — the governor hit back the next day. Later, Kassab joked at an event that his PSD would field its own presidential candidate alongside Tarcísio for governor, and that “our ticket will beat his.”

Kassab’s real endgame is 2030: the vice-governorship would be his springboard to governor when Tarcísio terms out. If blocked, Tarcísio could move Ramuth to MDB and sidestep the PSD entirely.

The stakes are national. Kassab’s PSD controls three presidential pre-candidates — governors Caiado, Ratinho Jr., and Eduardo Leite — giving him leverage across Brazil. Post-carnival meetings this week should force a resolution before the April 6 resignation deadline. Whoever wins this fight in São Paulo will shape the right-wing coalition heading into Brazil’s 2026 elections.

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