Uberlândia Mayor Paulo Sérgio Ferreira has left the PP for the PL, saying he wants to support presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, who led the national first-round vote.
Ferreira, elected with the PP, signed his PL membership papers at the party’s headquarters in Brasília on Oct. 7. National chairman Valdemar Costa Neto and the party’s Minas Gerais leader, federal deputy Zé Vitor, attended. Ferreira told Folha he accepted the invitation because he shares the PL’s ideology.
Uberlândia is the second-largest city by population in Minas Gerais. Folha reported that Flávio received 50.45% of the city’s first-round vote, while incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won 39.98%. Nationally, Flávio also finished first with 47.03%, ahead of Lula’s 45.16%. They are set to meet in a runoff on Oct. 25, the Associated Press reported.
The PL is seeking to expand its network of mayors and currently has 68 in Minas Gerais. In the 2024 municipal elections, the party won in 53 municipalities in the state, compared with 83 for Republicanos and 74 for the PP.