Conventions End With Lula as Sole Multi‑Party Candidate

Overview

• Party conventions closed on Wednesday, Aug. 5, producing a single multi‑party coalition for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva while most other presidential bids were left running on single‑party slates.
• A Regional Electoral Court in Ceará (TRE‑CE) on Aug. 4 rejected a challenge to a federation convention and confirmed that federations, not individual member parties, decide major alliances, securing Ciro Gomes’s local coalition with PSDB‑Cidadania, PL and União Brasil.
• The PL completed a 'chapa puro‑sangue' for Flávio Bolsonaro with Alfredo Gaspar as vice after multiple larger parties opted for neutrality, and the campaign has shifted toward intensified outreach in São Paulo’s peripheries.
• Three inquiries opened at the Supreme Federal Court are investigating alleged influence‑peddling involving Lula’s son Fábio Luís (Lulinha) and campaign aide Marco Aurélio Santana Ribeiro (Marcola), creating legal and reputational risk for the re‑election effort.
• State bargaining remains unsettled in key states — notably Minas Gerais, where Republicanos has not finalized a ticket — and the configuration of local palanques will continue to affect access to TV time, ground organization and funding through the Aug. 15 registration cutoff.