TSE Suspends Deltan Dallagnol Senate Campaign Over Ineligibility Ruling

The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) suspended the Senate campaign of former prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol (Novo) in Paraná on Saturday. Justice Floriano de Azevedo Marques ruled that the regional court (TRE-PR) could not overturn the TSE's own 2023 decision declaring Dallagnol ineligible.

The injunction bars Dallagnol from receiving public campaign funds, airing radio and TV ads, and participating in debates while the appeal proceeds. The TRE-PR had approved his candidacy on September 8 by a 4-3 vote.

“A lower court cannot reinterpret a superior court's decision (...) Accepting such action means abdicating the constitutional duty to guarantee legal certainty.”

The 2023 ruling found Dallagnol resigned from the Federal Prosecutor's Office in November 2021 to avoid the Clean Record Law's ineligibility clause. At the time, he faced 15 pending administrative proceedings at the National Council of the Public Ministry (CNMP) and had already received two disciplinary sanctions.

Justice Marques wrote that a lower court cannot reinterpret a superior court's decision without a relevant change in facts or law. The decision was requested by the Paraná Para Todos coalition and the Brazil of Hope Federation.

A Paraná Pesquisas poll released September 18 placed Dallagnol first with 31.6% voter intention, followed by Alexandre Curi (30.4%), Filipe Barros (26.3%), and Gleisi Hoffmann (25.9%). Paraná elects two senators.