Sergio Moro and Gleisi Hoffmann traded attacks over the weekend as rival camps began organizing for Brazil’s 2026 elections in Paraná, a southern state that has long been central to the country’s anti-corruption politics.
Moro, the former federal judge who led Operation Car Wash and is now a senator for the right-wing Liberal Party (PL), used X on Sunday, May 31, to answer criticism from Hoffmann, a former minister and senior figure in the Workers’ Party (PT), the center-left party of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Hoffmann had called him a “thieving judge” at a left-wing event in Curitiba the previous day, according to Poder360.
Competing Launches
Moro is a pre-candidate for governor of Paraná. He formalized his bid on Friday, May 29, at a PL event in Curitiba alongside Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro and a pre-candidate for Brazil’s presidency, according to Poder360.
The same event also featured former prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol, now with the center-right Novo party, and federal deputy Filipe Barros, both described by Poder360 as pre-candidates for the Senate. The lineup tied Moro’s campaign to the political legacy of Operation Car Wash, the anti-corruption probe that began in Curitiba in 2014 and helped send Lula to prison before his conviction was annulled.
On Saturday, May 30, the left answered with an event at Igloo Super Hall in Curitiba launching state deputy Requião Filho, of the Democratic Labour Party (PDT), as a pre-candidate for Paraná governor and Hoffmann as a Senate pre-candidate. Bem Paraná and Blog do Doc reported that more than 6,000 people attended the event, called “Vozes do Paraná.”
Poder360 reported that the meeting included PT national president Edinho Silva, federal deputies Lindbergh Farias, Carol Dartora and Tadeu Veneri, state deputy Arilson Chiorato and former deputy Enio Verri. Bem Paraná and Blog do Doc also said leaders and supporters from the PDT, PT, PCdoB, PV, Rede and PSOL attended.
The Exchange
Hoffmann used her speech to present the Senate race in personal and political terms. According to Bem Paraná and Blog do Doc, she said she wanted to represent women in the Senate and cited gender-based violence and the political attacks she says she has faced from the far right.
“I want to be in the Senate to represent women,” Hoffmann said, according to Bem Paraná and Blog do Doc.
She also said she wanted to defend health and security and help make Paraná a technology hub by using the state’s universities and technological institutes.
Moro answered on Sunday by accusing the PT of “defending criminals and terrorists and demonizing the United States,” according to Poder360. He also said the party had struggled to fill its Paraná event and told voters that his “project” would block PT ambitions in the state.
Paraná’s Stakes
Requião Filho framed his campaign as a development project for Paraná. According to Bem Paraná and Blog do Doc, he said the state should be governed “for people” rather than “for companies that pay the campaign bill,” and argued for a government focused on opportunity and social inclusion.
The left-wing Blog do Esmael presented the event as a response to attacks on Lula, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) and Hoffmann at the right-wing rally held the previous night. It also reported that the progressive camp wanted to link the state race to questions of national sovereignty, Operation Car Wash and criticism of Flávio Bolsonaro’s ties to Donald Trump’s agenda.
The official candidacies are not yet confirmed. Bem Paraná and Blog do Doc reported that the names for lieutenant governor, the second Senate slot and Senate substitutes will be defined later, with formal party conventions scheduled between July 20 and August 5 under Brazil’s electoral calendar.
For now, the contest is already taking shape as a replay of Brazil’s broader polarization: Lula’s PT and allied left-wing parties on one side, and a right-wing bloc built around Moro, Bolsonaro allies and the Car Wash legacy on the other.