2026 Brazil Presidential Election (C1000x)

The 2026 presidential election in Brazil was held in two rounds. The first took place on October 4th, 2026, and the second on October 25th, 2026, both on Sundays. It was the country's 10th presidential election after the 1988 Federal Constitution promulgated. President Jair Bolsonaro to run for a third consecutive term due to term limits established by the Brazilian constitution; however, federal deputy Luiz Philippe of Orleans-Bragança, who also belongs from Patriota, announced himself as a candidate for the presidency of Brazil to succeed the president. In the Democratic Labor Party (PDT), federal deputy André Figueiredo ran for presidency of Brazil for the party, in order to dethrone the right-wing of power.

The Brazilian Social Democracy Party chose the former governor of São Paulo João Dória as a candidate to be the third-way of the two other candidates. There were also other candidates such as: Randolfe Rodrigues from Sustainability Network, Eduardo Paes from Democrats, Jorge Kajuru from Podemos and Alexandre Kalil from Social Democratic Party (PSD).

Bolsonaro's potential successors
As Bolsonaro was ineligible to run for a third consecutive term due to term limits established by the Brazilian constitution, speculation had increased in the years leading up to the election around who could assume the mantle of the Patriota party in his absence. Although Bolsonaro was widely popular, many commentators speculated that his likely successors in Patriota would not be able to generate his populist touch. Three of Bolsonaro's main allies considered possible successors, Minister of Infrastructure Tarcísio de Gomes Freitas and Federal Deputies Marco Feliciano and Luiz Philippe.

PT's end and PDT nomination
On March 17, 2024, Workers' Party (PT) was dissolved and incorporated into the Democratic Labor Party (PDT), becoming the strongest left-wing party for the 2026 election. The party had considered Gleisi Hoffmann to be the candidate for the elections, but she showed disinterest in running. In 2025, federal deputy André Figueiredo announced his pre-candidacy by PDT for the elections. In August 2026, PDT confirmed Figueiredo's presidential candidacy.

Third-Way candidates
As in the previous election, certain parties cast their candidates to be an alternative to Patriota and PDT. The third-way candidates were: Former São Paulo governor João Dória Jr. from PSDB, Jorge Kajuru from Podemos and Alexandre Kalil from PSD.

Other candidates
Other left-wing candidates also appeared, such as Randolfe Rodrigues from Sustainability Network and right-wing candidates, such as Eduardo Paes from Democrats and Eduardo Ribeiro from New Party.

Campaing
During the campaign, all candidates opted not to use party funds and used their own money to campaign. Luiz Philippe showed himself to be a conservative candidate, defender of the free market and a minarchist. André Figueiredo showed himself as a social-democratic candidate, defender of the welfare state and democracy. João Dória showed himself to be a moderate candidate and third way, also a defender of social liberalism. In the government proposals, Luiz Philippe had the most striking proposal of all: The sationing of Law No. 8624/93, as an attempt to revive the monarchy in Brazil, despite Luiz Philippe believing that there are chances of this law failing to be approved in Congress.

Results
In first round, held on October 4, candidate Luiz Philippe obtained almost 40 million votes, however, it was not enough for a victory in the first round, since this total did not represent 50% plus one vote of the total votes. valid. Therefore, it was necessary to hold a second round between the two most voted candidates, that is, Luiz Philippe x André Figueiredo.

In second round, election followed the same rules and was held on October 26. Luiz Philippe was elected 39th president of Brazil, after accumulating more than 53 million votes, which corresponds to 61.73% of the valid votes. André Figueiredo, was in second place, with more than 18 million votes, which corresponds to 38.27% of the valid votes. White and null votes in this round totaled 6.43%, a much lower number than in the first round.