João Campos assumes PSB and defends Alckmin plate with Lula in 2026

The mayor of Recife, João Campos, takes over the presidency of the PSB this Sunday, 1st, during the National Congress of the Party in Brasilia. At 31, the politician will occupy the place of Carlos Siqueira with the mission of strengthening the party for the next elections and trying to ensure the permanence of Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) in Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

Although seen as a name of the renewal on the PSB, João Campos comes from a traditional family of Pernambuco politics. He is a great-grandson of Miguel Arraes, who ruled Pernambuco three times and led the party between 1999 and 2005, and son of Eduardo Campos, also former state governor and former PSB president.

Eduardo died in a plane crash in 2014, at the height of his political career, while playing the presidency alongside Marina Silva, now Minister of the Environment. At the time, he occupied third place in the polls, behind Aécio Neves and Dilma Rousseff.

João Campos is seen as one of the great bets from left to post laula. In 2024, he was reelected mayor of Recife with a record vote of more than 70% of the votes, and gained national prominence for good performance on social networks. Now, ahead of the PSB, he must work to follow the footsteps of his father and great -grandfather towards the government of Pernambuco in 2026.

As a party leader, João Campos will have the challenge of ensuring that Geraldo Alckmin continues as deputy in Lula’s reelection plate. Alckmin’s future at the post is uncertain, and part of Lula’s allies defended using the place to attract larger and center parties such as MDB or PSD.

Alckmin’s name has been ventilated both for the São Paulo government – a vacancy whereby Entrepreneurship Minister Márcio França (PSB) also showed interest – as for a Senate candidacy in the same state, in a strategy to prevent the pockets from getting both vacancies.