Rio Federal Deputy Hélio Lopes Transfers Voter Registration to Roraima for Senate Bid

Federal Deputy Hélio Lopes, representing Rio de Janeiro and known as Hélio Negão, has transferred his voter registration to Roraima with the intention of running for a Senate seat in the state during the 2026 elections. Lopes, a close ally of former President Jair Bolsonaro, announced his pre-candidacy with the support of Bolsonaro's family and national PL party leader Valdemar Costa Neto. He stated that Bolsonaro himself requested the transfer to Roraima, citing a friendship of over 30 years. Lopes was the most voted federal deputy in Rio de Janeiro in 2018 under the name 'Helio Bolsonaro,' receiving 345,234 votes, and was re-elected in 2022. His move to Roraima could lead to a contest within the PL party for the Senate seat, as another federal deputy from Roraima, Nicoletti, also claims support from Flávio Bolsonaro. Lopes' political career began after joining the Army, where he met Jair Bolsonaro. He has positioned himself as a representative of 'right-wing Black people' and expressed opposition to racial quotas, favoring social quotas instead. In 2023, a court ordered Lopes to pay R$50,000 in moral damages to brothers Luccas and Felipe Neto over social media posts linking their work to pedophilia.