Who is Rogério Marinho?
Rogério Marinho, an economist from Natal, served two terms as city councillor and three as federal deputy, where he was rapporteur of the 2017 labour reform. Under Jair Bolsonaro he was Special Secretary of Social Security and Labour from 2019 and Minister of Regional Development from February 2020. He won a Senate seat for Rio Grande do Norte in 2022 with 41.85 percent of valid votes, lost the 2023 race for Senate president 49 to 32 to Rodrigo Pacheco, and became opposition leader. In January 2026 he dropped a bid for governor to coordinate Flávio Bolsonaro's presidential campaign, which lost the 25 October runoff, 48.22 percent to 51.78 for Lula. The PL now wants him as Senate president in 2027.
Previously: Minister of Regional Development (2020-2022) · Special Secretary of Social Security and Labour (2019-2020) · Federal deputy for Rio Grande do Norte (three terms) · City councillor of Natal (two terms)
Documented positions
- As a federal deputy he was rapporteur of Michel Temer's 2017 labour reform.Source: opovo.com.br
- In January 2019 he was named to handle the political negotiation of the pension reform, which took about eight months to pass and was estimated to save R$800 billion over ten years.Source: gazetadopovo.com.br
- On taking the Regional Development ministry in February 2020 he said its duty was to correct inequalities and ensure equal opportunities regardless of region.Source: euqueroinvestir.com
- He voted for the April 2024 constitutional amendment criminalising possession of any quantity of drugs.Source: cnnbrasil.com.br
- He voted for the December 2025 sentencing bill benefiting those convicted over the 8 January 2023 attacks.Source: cartacapital.com.br
- In January 2026 he gave up a run for governor of Rio Grande do Norte after, he said, Bolsonaro asked him to join his son Flávio's campaign.Source: sbtnews.sbt.com.br
- On the night of 25 October 2026 he stood beside Flávio Bolsonaro as the candidate said he could not recognise the runoff result and would seek its annulment, and he had earlier called Justice Cristiano Zanin's extension of voting shameful and untimely.Source: agorarn.com.br
- Valdemar Costa Neto said on 5 October 2026 that the PL would back Marinho for Senate president in 2027 and expected PP, União Brasil and Republicanos to support him.Source: congressoemfoco.com.br
Record
Marinho was a leading Bolsonaro-era negotiator for market-oriented reform, and in the Senate he has been a firm opponent of the Lula government. In the runoff Lula took 65.72 percent of valid votes in his own state of Rio Grande do Norte.
In 2023 a Natal court sentenced him in a civil improbity case over the hiring of a doctor who allegedly never worked at the city council, where he was a councillor in the 2000s, to loss of office, eight years of ineligibility and a fine. His office said he respected but disagreed with the ruling, argued the case was time-barred and said he would appeal; the ruling was not final, and the appeal result was not found. A separate criminal case was suspended by Justice Dias Toffoli in 2022.
Supporters credit him with the mix of technical knowledge and political skill that Paulo Guedes sought for the pension reform, per Gazeta do Povo. Critics point to the 2023 improbity ruling, which he contests.
