Álvaro Lins Pereira de Lira (PP-AL), Alvinho Lira, 20, son of federal deputy and senator-elect Arthur Lira (PP-AL), will be the youngest deputy in the history of Brazil, helped by a law sanctioned last year by President Lula (PT).
The 1988 Constitution defines the minimum age for the position of federal deputy as 21 years old. But a bill proposed by Senator Romário (PL-RJ), approved in the Chamber of Deputies and sanctioned by the federal government a year ago changed the understanding of which date is valid for counting the candidate's age.
Until the law, the candidate had to be 21 years old on the date of inauguration, generally on the first working day of February. The new law adopts the understanding of presumed possession, and now considers a period of 90 days from the election of the Board of Directors, which also takes place on the first day of February.
Alvinho Lira will turn 21 on March 17, 2027, 39 days after taking office.
Before him, the youngest elected deputy had been Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), who was 21 years old when he was elected in 2010, another heir to a political dynasty, this one in Paraíba.
For deputies who participated in the Chamber's vote, the law had an apparent objective of benefiting the son of the former president of the House. The project was named, in small words, "Lei Alvinho". At that point, the Lira family already had a plan to make their youngest son a candidate.
Arthur Lira was 23 years old when he was elected councilor in Maceió. The election for deputy only came in 2010, when he was already 41 years old. On Sunday (4), he was elected senator.
With 172,628 votes, Alvinho was the most voted deputy in Alagoas. The campaign mentioned the father's trajectory, but relied on that of his grandfather, former senator Benedito de Lira (1942-2025).
Biu, as he is known, died while serving as mayor of Barra do São Miguel (metropolitan region of Maceió), where Alvinho had his first formal job in politics. Alvinho was administrative manager at city hall, with a monthly salary of R$8,000, R$4,000 less than what Mayor Henrique Alves Pinto (PP), Biu's former deputy, earns.
It was Biu de Lira that Alvinho publicly thanked after the election, in a video made by artificial intelligence in which the grandfather shows pride in his grandson. “This was for us”, wrote Alvinho.
Folha requested an interview with Alvinho and Arthur Lira through the candidates' and Progressistas' advisors, between Wednesday (7) and Friday (10), but they stated that father and son would not speak. The only position was made in a joint note sent to the reporter.
"The historic victory conferred by the people of Alagoas expands their commitment to work, to their presence in the municipalities and to the deliveries that Alagoas expects", says the note.
"Arthur Lira and Alvinho received the results of the polls with humility and an enormous sense of responsibility."
A participant in vaquejadas, Alvinho runs the Agropecuária Lira brand, a cattle auction brand, with his father. The herd includes the Nelore Lira, a breed of cattle named after the family's surname.
The young congressman-elect's campaign explored the family's reach over the corners of Alagoas, and the Lira's proximity to local mayors. In one of the videos, Alvinho says he knows the countryside, the coast and the caves of Maceió, a region inhabited by the capital's low-income population.
Members of the PP from Alagoas and observers of local politics claim that "playing still" was enough to make Alvinho win a seat in the Chamber. According to them, Alvinho carried out a formal campaign, with some difficulty in front of the cameras, but with ease in contact with the population.
It was an election in which the Lira family swept the main opposing clan, the Calheiros. In the dispute between local protagonists, Arthur Lira and Marina de JHC (PSDB) were elected senators, leaving Renan Calheiros (MDB) out.
This is a defeat in the state. Calheiros has been a senator since 1995 and is in his fourth consecutive term, which ends next year.
João Henrique Caldas, JHC (PSDB), was elected governor in the first round, defeating Renan Filho (MDB), son of Calheiros. Renan Filho remains senator until 2031.
The Lira family is still experiencing internal fissures since the lawsuit against Arthur, following a complaint made by his ex-wife, Jullyene Lins, in 2012, on suspicion of threat and bodily harm in the context of domestic violence.
The accusation was received by the court, but the case was closed, considered time-barred and unfounded.
Minister Teori Zavascki understood at the time that, in addition to the statute of limitations [the alleged case had occurred in 2007], the victim, when heard in court, changed her version of the facts.
In 2023, Arthur's children went to court against their mother to be entitled to a property that had been passed on during the divorce. Jullyene separated from Lira the year Alvinho was born.
