Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro has selected federal lawmaker Alfredo Gaspar as his running mate for the October election. The decision completes the Liberal Party ticket after centrist parties largely declined to endorse Bolsonaro's campaign or chose to remain neutral.
Bolsonaro, a senator and son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, was confirmed last month as the presidential nominee of his father's party. He will challenge incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with a runoff possible if no candidate receives a majority in the first round.
Gaspar has served in the lower house of Congress since 2023. His previous roles as a prosecutor and public security secretary in the northeastern state of Alagoas give the ticket a candidate with a law-enforcement profile and political roots outside Brazil's southeastern power centres.
The choice also reflects Bolsonaro's difficulty in attracting a vice-presidential nominee from the political centre. Unlike the coalition that supported his father's presidency, his current campaign lacks backing from several centrist parties that traditionally provide congressional reach and broader electoral alliances.
Bolsonaro had sought Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina as a higher-profile female running mate but failed to secure her participation. Her party holds substantial influence in Congress, was important to Jair Bolsonaro's government and was not expected to nominate its own presidential candidate, making its distance from Flávio Bolsonaro politically significant.
The nomination arrives after a series of setbacks for the campaign. Support began to weaken in May after Bolsonaro acknowledged requesting millions of dollars from jailed banker Daniel Vorcaro to finance a film about his father, a disclosure that unsettled allies.
Bolsonaro subsequently promoted his family's ties with United States President Donald Trump during visits to the White House and the State Department. That international positioning became a domestic liability when politicians, business leaders and voters blamed him for United States tariffs of up to 37.5% on some Brazilian exports.
A public dispute with his stepmother in June added another complication before the two reconciled. By turning to Gaspar, Bolsonaro has secured a complete ticket but not resolved the wider challenge of expanding beyond the Liberal Party's base and assembling the centrist support needed for the contest with Lula.
