PP launches Eduardo da Fonte as a candidate for the Senate on Raquel Lyra's ticket The Progressistas (PP) launched, this Saturday (1st), the candidacy of federal deputy Eduardo da Fonte for the Federal Senate. The announcement was made after a convention held at the party headquarters, in the Pina neighborhood, in the South Zone of Recife (see video above). After the withdrawal of former mayor of Petrolina Miguel Coelho, also announced this Saturday, Eduardo da Fonte will join the ticket of governor Raquel Lyra (PSD), candidate for re-election. Each ticket has the right to launch two candidacies for the Senate, which is the number of seats available in this year's election. On Raquel Lyra's ticket, the candidacy of federal deputy Túlio Gadelha (PSD) for the Senate, who participated in the PP convention, should also be launched. The PSD party convention was scheduled for Sunday (2). ? Receive news from g1 PE on WhatsApp Federal deputy since 2007, Eduardo da Fonte is in his fifth consecutive term in the Chamber of Deputies. In addition to being a parliamentarian, he presides over the PP in Pernambuco and also the União Progressista federation. In the 2022 elections, he campaigned together with his son, Lula da Fonte (PP), who was also elected federal deputy. The candidacy for the Senate represents an attempt by Eduardo da Fonte to leave the Chamber of Deputies after two decades in office, and win a place in the Upper House of the National Congress. In a speech at the event, Eduardo da Fonte thanked Miguel Coelho for the "great gesture" of giving up the pre-candidacy, and promised to work for the health of the people of Pernambuco, especially those who need to undergo cardiac and oncological treatment in the interior and families who have children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). "My friend Túlio Gadêlha, what unites us with you, with governor Raquel Lyra, the best governor in the history of Pernambuco, is that we have the ability to put ourselves in the place of the invisible, of those people who don't have the opportunity. And that's why this team here will tour the state of Pernambuco showing what we've already accomplished, what we're managing to transform", stated Eduardo da Fonte. Eduardo da Fonte (PP) speaks during the PP convention in Pernambuco alongside Túlio Gadêlha (PSD), who should be launched on Sunday (2) for the second vacancy in the Senate Paulo Veras/g1 PE Dispute for vacancy Eduardo da Fonte's candidacy was consolidated after beating Miguel Coelho, state president of União Brasil, within an internal dispute in the federation formed by PP and União Brasil. Eduardo da Fonte has been trying to become a candidate for the position since at least the beginning of the year. Until then, Miguel Coelho and his party were linked to the former mayor of Recife João Campos (PSB), the main opponent of governor Raquel Lyra and who, also this Saturday, makes his candidacy for governor official. Miguel was one of the possible candidates for the Senate on João Campos' ticket, but his candidacy competed with several other names in the Pernambuco Popular Front group, such as senator Humberto Costa (PT), former federal deputy Marília Arraes (PDT) and the then Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho (Republicans). In February, Miguel Coelho and his relatives became targets of the Federal Police's Operation Vassalos, which is investigating an alleged criminal scheme to divert parliamentary amendments. Days later, he broke with João Campos and said that União Brasil "was held hostage" by a project that excluded the party. The Coelho political group then became part of the governor's support base, with whom Miguel began to participate in political agendas and in the delivery of works throughout the state. After Miguel Coelho and Raquel Lyra approached, Eduardo da Fonte began talking to João Campos' group, but a possible alliance did not go ahead, and João Campos announced Humberto Costa and Marília Arraes as his candidates for the Senate. In the following months, however, Eduardo da Fonte's name began to gain political muscle for the dispute, and he began to be included in opinion polls for the election, reaching third place in voting intentions. At the end of June, the federation held a meeting in which it approved the name of Eduardo da Fonte as a pre-candidate for the Senate, since the PP has the majority of members between the two parties. The decision was ratified by the national president of the PP, Ciro Nogueira, but disapproved by the national leader of União Brasil, Antônio Rueda. With that, the imbroglio continued. The two parties met several times with governor Raquel Lyra, but nothing was defined until this last weekend of party conventions, when Miguel gave up the race. Eduardo da Fonte's career Federal deputy Eduardo da Fonte (PP) Paulo Veras/g1 Eduardo da Fonte Albuquerque Silva is a politician and federal deputy for Pernambuco. State president of the PP, he is in his fifth consecutive term in the Chamber of Deputies and is one of the main leaders of the party in the state. Eduardo da Fonte was elected federal deputy for the first time in 2006, with 110,061 votes, and took office in February 2007. Since then, he has managed to be re-elected in all the disputes for the Chamber in which he participated, in the elections of 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022. In his first legislature, he assumed the position of second vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies, in 2010 until 2012, and was unanimously elected President of the Mines and Energy Commission in 2013. In the 2022 elections, Eduardo da Fonte was re-elected federal deputy for the fifth consecutive term with 124,850 votes, and also managed to elect his son, Lula da Fonte, who obtained 94,122 votes. Now, after five consecutive terms and almost 20 years as a federal deputy, Eduardo da Fonte is trying to run for a seat in the Senate for the first time. Convention calendar Conventions are events in which party members meet to choose candidates in elections. The deadline is August 5th. Next, the names must be registered in the T