André Fufuca and Lahesio Bonfim are elected senators for Maranhão in 2026

In 2026, two senators were elected in each state and in the Federal District, to renew 54 of the 81 seats. Therefore, each voter voted for two different candidates.

For Fufuca, this will be his first term in the Senate. André Fufuca is a doctor, federal deputy for Maranhão and former Minister of Sports. He began his political career in 2011, as a state deputy, and was elected federal deputy for the first time in 2014.

In the Chamber, he held positions on the Board of Directors and was leader of the PP, a party he joined in 2016. Re-elected for the term from 2023 to 2027, he took leave in September 2023 to take over the Ministry of Sports in the Lula government. Fufuca left the ministry in March 2026 and resumed his mandate as federal deputy. Throughout his career, he worked for PSDB, PEN and PP.

Lahesio Bonfim will also serve his first term in the Senate. He is 48 years old, born in Marcos Parente, Piauí, and is a doctor. A civil servant at the Federal Institute of Maranhão (IFMA) and the municipality of Balsas, in the south of the state, he is married and father of three children.

In public life, he was elected mayor of São Pedro dos Crentes in 2016 by the PSDB and served his first term from January 2017 to December 2020. In 2020, he was re-elected by the PSL for a second term, starting in January 2021. He left office on April 1, 2022 to run for Government of Maranhão. In the 2022 elections, he ran for government with the PSC and finished in second place.

In the 2026 campaign, André Fufuca ran for one of Maranhão's two seats in the Senate on the ticket of Eduardo Braide (PSD), candidate elected to the government. In the same group was Lahesio Bonfim (Novo), also a candidate for the Senate and elected. Fufuca participated in campaign events alongside the two and defended joint voting for the candidates on the ticket.

One of the main facts of the campaign was the composition of Fufuca with Braide, despite his time in the Lula government. A former sports minister, he received public support from the president for his candidacy for the Senate.

Politically, Fufuca maintained links with the federal government and, at the same time, was part of a party in the state made up of parties from different political camps. In the final stretch, the campaign also reinforced the double with Lahesio for the two votes for the Senate.

After the 2022 election, Lahesio joined Novo. In the 2026 campaign, he ran for the Senate for the “Pra Transformar o Maranhão” coalition, formed by Novo and PSD, alongside Eduardo Braide (PSD), candidate for government. Previously, Lahesio was considered to run for the state Executive, but started running for the Senate after the alliance with Braide.

The campaign had joint agendas with Braide and André Fufuca (PP), also a candidate for the Senate, with motorcades, walks and meetings in São Luís and in the interior of the state. Lahesio also gathered support from mayors, councilors, former mayors and local leaders.