BRASÍLIA, DF (FOLHAPRESS) - Minister Gilmar Mendes, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), released this Friday (21), the action that discusses the validity of the changes promoted by the National Congress in the Clean Record Law for judgment in a virtual plenary between September 11th and 18th. The conclusion of the case should directly impact the election of governors and other positions up for grabs in October.
Gilmar releases flexibility on the Clean Record for judgment before the 1st round of elections
BRASÍLIA, DF (FOLHAPRESS) - Minister Gilmar Mendes, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), released this Friday (21), the action that discusses the validity of the changes promoted by the National Congress in the Clean Record Law for judgment...
While the STF has not concluded the trial, the status of the candidacies of politicians such as José Roberto Arruda (PSD-DF) and Anthony Garotinho (Republicanos-RJ), who are running for local governments, remain uncertain. There is also the former president of the Chamber Eduardo Cunha who wants to return to the House for Minas Gerais.
- The expectation is that Gilmar will open a disagreement and argue that the changes in legislation prevent very long deadlines for ineligibility.
- The case began to be analyzed in May, but was suspended following a request from Gilmar.
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While the STF has not concluded the trial, the status of the candidacies of politicians such as José Roberto Arruda (PSD-DF) and Anthony Garotinho (Republicanos-RJ), who are running for local governments, remain uncertain. There is also the former president of the Chamber Eduardo Cunha who wants to return to the House for Minas Gerais.
The expectation is that Gilmar will open a disagreement and argue that the changes in legislation prevent very long deadlines for ineligibility.
The case began to be analyzed in May, but was suspended following a request from Gilmar. According to the Supreme Court's deadlines - 90 days for analysis -, the dean would have until October 5th to return the action to the plenary. To interlocutors, the minister assessed that it would be bad for the trial to take place between the two rounds of elections.
For him, however, the lack of definition does not hinder the candidacies, in itself, as they can sue the Court to compete sub judice, that is, with the candidacy still under analysis by the Judiciary and can either be confirmed or prevented.
Until the request for review, the rapporteur, Cármen Lúcia, and Luiz Fux had voted for the eight years of ineligibility to only start counting from the end of the sentence. The text analyzed provides that convicted politicians cannot be candidates for eight years from the date of conviction.
In September 2025, Congress approved a project that reduces the effects of ineligibility by allowing the eight-year period to start counting from conviction, and not after serving the sentence. The change was challenged in the STF by the Rede Sustentabilidade party.
When voting, Cármen Lúcia was in favor of returning to the previous wording of the project approved in the Senate. For the rapporteur, the senators changed the spirit of the law by making it more flexible. Therefore, the proposal should have returned to the Chamber.
She also defended that the changes to the Clean Record Law by the Legislature are "incompatible with the democratic constitutional model" and that the STF is committed to removing acts that hinder administrative probity and public morality.
Cármen Lúcia also stated that the changes to the Clean Record Law mean possible "impunity or amnesty", capable of compromising the integrity of the electoral process.
According to the rapporteur, the changes "establish a scenario of clear regression to what had been established as an instrument to guarantee republican principles, administrative probity and public morality".
Governor of the Federal District between 2007 and 2010 and pivot of the DEM's monthly allowance, Arruda was arrested and convicted in cases arising from Operation Pandora's Box, in 2009, when he was filmed receiving a wad of money.
After more than 15 years, he decided to return to politics and ran as a candidate to challenge Governor Celina Leão (PP), but he faces a scenario of doubts in the legal field: as he has had an appeal without a trial for years, the penalty of ineligibility has not started to be served yet.
The first Datafolha survey for the government of the Federal District after the official registration of candidacies, released this Friday, shows a technical tie between the current governor, Celina Leão (PP), and Arruda (PSD). In the stimulated poll scenario, the governor has 30% of voting intentions, compared to 28% for her opponent. The margin of error is three percentage points, plus or minus.
In Rio de Janeiro, three former governors who planned to be candidates faced pending legal proceedings or were the target of investigations, as shown in the cases of Cláudio Castro, Anthony Garotinho and Wilson Witzel.
Cláudio Castro (PL) withdrew from the dispute after becoming the target of investigations by the Federal Police. Garotinho launched himself as a pre-candidate amidst a scenario of doubts. But the STF annulled convictions arising from Operation Chequinho in May, in a decision that restored his eligibility. Witzel joined the Democrat Party, formerly the Brazilian Women's Party, to run again for governor of Rio, but the impeachment process declared him ineligible for five years in 2021.
Former governor Garotinho appears in third, with 9%, in voting intentions for the state government, according to a Datafolha survey. Former mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes (PSD) appears in the lead. Paes registers 41% of voting intentions. In second place is the president of Alerj (Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro) Douglas Ruas (PL), with 19%.
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