A month ago, we wrote about how the so-called “partisan window” – that is, a period of time during which lawmakers can change parties without losing office – would reshape the political chessboard. The window closed on April 1, with President Jair Bolsonaro the biggest winner of the congressional game of musical chairs, as we reported in Friday’s Brazil Daily newsletter.
Per Brazilian electoral law, seats won in proportional elections (such as those for the House, city councils, and state congresses) belong to parties rather than to candidates. Outside the 30-day window, which closes six months prior to election day, switching parties is heavily regulated.
After the past month, Brazil’s “Big Center” – a group of for-rent parties which lend their support to the government du jour for the right price – became very big indeed. This was especially the case for President Jair Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party, which in 2018 won 33 of 513 seats in the House, but is now the biggest congressional bench with 73 representatives.
Congressional races are often overlooked, with hundreds (sometimes thousands) of candidates in every state squeezed into minutes of...
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