The Liberal Party (PL) officially confirmed Michelle Bolsonaro as its candidate for the Federal District’s Senate seat during a convention in Brasília on Sunday, but the former first lady was absent after being hospitalised the previous night with a persistent migraine. Her brother, Diego Torres, read a letter in which she accepted the nomination and pledged to “walk together” with her stepson, Flávio Bolsonaro, the party’s presidential nominee, marking a formal end to a public family feud that had threatened to fracture the conservative movement ahead of the October elections.

The convention had been cast as a symbolic reunion after a June dispute in which Michelle accused Flávio of humiliating her, a rift that alarmed party leaders because of her influence among female and evangelical voters. A reconciliation was brokered in late July when Flávio issued a public apology, but Sunday’s event was to be their first joint appearance. Instead, Michelle remained under medical care, having undergone a cranial nerve block procedure, and was discharged only as the convention got underway. Flávio, addressing the crowd, wished her a swift recovery and declared that together they would “rescue democracy.”

Michelle’s candidacy is a strategic asset for the PL. As the third wife of jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro—who is serving a 27-year house arrest sentence for attempting a coup—she is seen as a bridge to women and the growing evangelical constituency, both of which have been cool to Flávio’s candidacy. Her letter emphasised that her husband had chosen Flávio to lead the presidential ticket, a signal aimed at consolidating the Bolsonaro base. The party also confirmed federal deputy Bia Kicis as its other Senate candidate for the district and endorsed the re-election bid of governor Celina Leão.

The campaign period officially begins on 16 August, following the registration deadline. The next test of the family truce will be whether Michelle actively joins Flávio on the campaign trail, a step that party officials say is essential to unifying the right-wing electorate against incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is seeking a fourth term.