The Liberal Party (PL) put forward Senator Rogério Marinho (PL-RN) as its candidate for the Senate presidency at a party meeting in Brasília on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, according to Poder360. Marinho, who coordinated Senator Flávio Bolsonaro's presidential campaign, said the 33 senators present at the gathering chose him for the race.
The announcement sets up a contest with the chamber's current president, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP), who is working toward reelection. The vote is scheduled for February 1, 2027.
Why it matters
Control of the Senate presidency shapes which bills reach the floor and when, and the race is unfolding as the chamber's opposition bloc tries to consolidate around a single challenger. Marinho's entry also ties the Senate contest to the fallout from the 2026 presidential election and to the legal situation of former president Jair Bolsonaro, which Marinho addressed directly at the meeting.
Poder360 reports that Alcolumbre is expected to have the backing of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government in his bid to keep the post.
A crowded field and talk of a single opposition name
Senator Tereza Cristina (PP-MS) has also announced she will run for the Senate presidency, according to Poder360, and is courting right-wing lawmakers who are unhappy with Marinho's candidacy.
Asked about her bid, Marinho said other lawmakers are equally entitled to seek the office. He told reporters the two spoke on Wednesday morning and that he regards Tereza Cristina as positioned to make her own name viable. He said she "has every legitimacy to be a candidate" and that at the right moment they would converge on a single opposition name. According to Marinho, the two share the same policy priorities and agree that the chamber's leadership needs to change.
The meeting drew PL president Valdemar da Costa Neto, senator-elect Carlos Bolsonaro (PL-SC), Senator Magno Malta (PL-ES), Senator Marcos Pontes (PL-SP), senator-elect Deltan Dallagnol (Novo-PR), and federal deputies Alfredo Gaspar (PL-AL), Carol de Toni (PL-SC) and Bia Kicis (PL-DF), among others. Estadão noted an absence at the gathering that drew attention, though Poder360's account did not identify who was missing.
Anistia pledge and a personal appeal
Marinho said that if he takes the Senate presidency he will unblock the legislative agenda on an amnesty for those imprisoned over the January 8, 2023 riots in Brasília.
His voice broke as he spoke about Jair Bolsonaro and Flávio Bolsonaro, according to Poder360. He said that even though the election result was not what had been hoped for, there is "no bitterness, no resentment," because "that is how power works" — while adding that he knows he is on "the right side."
"Head held high. Being on the right side. Looking at your children and saying: 'I did my part. I tried to build, I tried to construct,'" Marinho said, according to Poder360. "And if things are not happening in the best way, if obstacles appear, if discomfort and convenience call you to another fight or ask you to give up, I tell you, to us here and to those out there: we cannot give up on Brazil. We cannot give up on Brazil."
Marinho described Flávio Bolsonaro's decision to leave the country with his family as a difficult one. He called the senator a "detached young man" who gave up what was practically an assured Senate seat for Rio de Janeiro to run for the presidency. According to Marinho, Flávio received more than 3,000 death threats or threats of physical assault during the campaign, and he said the federal police responded disproportionately seven minutes after the election result was confirmed, in a process he called biased.
Marinho said Flávio weighed his father's imprisonment, the fact that his brother Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP) is outside Brazil, and "the country's situation over the last four years" in deciding to leave.
What to watch
With three candidacies now in play or being floated, the next test is whether the opposition can settle on one name before the February 1, 2027 vote — and whether Alcolumbre's expected government backing holds.
