Conservative leader launches presidential bid as alternative to Lula and Bolsonaro

Ronaldo Caiado, the former governor of Goiás, launched his presidential bid on Sunday in São Paulo, presenting himself as a viable alternative to the leading candidates Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro. Caiado, a conservative, urged voters to give him a chance to "create a different country" and defeat the current frontrunners.

During the convention of the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), Caiado officially announced his candidacy. He also confirmed the party's national president, Gilberto Kassab, as his running mate, indicating the PSD would compete with its own leaders and without electoral alliances. Caiado, 76, is making his second presidential run, having previously placed tenth in the 1989 election. He has since served as a deputy, senator, and two-term governor of Goiás, a position he resigned from in March to pursue the presidency.

Caiado expressed his belief that Brazil needs a leader with "moral independence and personal courage." He argued that neither the current president nor Jair Bolsonaro's son represents a true alternative for Brazil. He accused Lula's government of unnecessarily provoking then-U.S. President Donald Trump and criticized the far-right senator's circle for attacks against Brazilian authorities. Caiado's campaign, while third in polls with 4% of voter intention according to a recent Datafolha survey, faces an uphill battle against Lula's 40% and Bolsonaro's 32%.