Cleitinho announces that he will not be a candidate for the Government of Minas Gerais

The withdrawal occurred, according to Cleitinho, because of the death of his brother, Matheus Augusto Azevedo, victim of complications from leukemia on July 18th.

Cleitinho leads polls of voting intentions for the Government of Minas Gerais, but did not confirm his candidacy until the Republican state convention, held on August 25th. He gave mixed signals to the party leadership, who finally decided that they could no longer wait for him and signaled support for Marcelo Aro (PP).

After the party's refusal, Cleitinho stated last Wednesday (29) that he would be a candidate and justified his withdrawal by remembering that his brother, Matheus Augusto Azevedo, suffered complications from leukemia on July 18. The senator then began to gather allies to try to convince Pereira to change his decision.

Last Sunday (2), Cleitinho was with the PL leadership of Minas Gerais, to ensure the party's support for his candidacy, if confirmed. He was with deputies Zé Vitor, state president of the party, and Domingos Sávio, candidate for the Senate.

"He felt safer to sit down [with the Republicans] and say that he has our support. We are not the ones who decide, but we understood that it was good to be clear that there was never a lack of support from me, or from the PL of Minas Gerais. We gave the floor and waited for the Republicans' response", said Domingos Sávio to the report.

According to a Quaest survey published last Tuesday (28), Cleitinho has 35% voting intentions in the first round, 23 points ahead of second place, the former mayor of Belo Horizonte Alexandre Kalil (PDT), who has 12%. The senator also wins in all second round simulations.

The advantage presented by Cleitinho caused the senator to be courted by Flávio Bolsonaro's candidacy for President, who needs a strong platform in Minas Gerais. The state is considered crucial to the success of a presidential candidacy, as no president has been elected without also winning the majority of Minas Gerais votes in recent decades.

In the meeting with the PL's state leadership, Cleitinho signaled that he wants the party's participation in the formation of its government plan. The idea is to incorporate some of the proposals presented by Flávio Bolsonaro, adapting them to the state level.

The situation is delicate for the PL because there is competition on the right in Minas Gerais. Governor Matheus Simões (PSD) will run for re-election with the support of former governor Romeu Zema (Novo), who left state management in March to run for President.

President Lula (PT) decided to launch federal deputy Patrus Ananias (PT) into the Minas Gerais government. The PT member will have the former mayor of Contagem Marília Campos running for the Senate.

According to Quaest, Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro are technically tied in the first round, with 30% of voting intentions in the state, against 29%, respectively. Zema appears in third place, with 12%.