Cadu Xavier and Allyson Bezerra compete in the second round in RN, according to Datafolha

Candidates Cadu Xavier (PT) and Allyson Bezerra (União Brasil) will compete in the second round of the election for governor of Rio Grande do Norte, projects the Datafolha institute.

With 60.48% of the ballots counted, the PT member registered 36.79% valid votes, while Allyson scored 35.70%, in this Sunday's election (4).

Follow the counting of the 1st round in Rio Grande do Norte

To project that the dispute will go to the second round, Datafolha follows the counting data released by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) and, through its own system, projects the result considering the grouping of voters by mesoregion and the nature of the municipality in each state. When there is a reasonable number of votes counted in these groupings, it is possible to estimate that the election can no longer be decided in the first round.

Cadu, who presents himself as Cadu de Lula, will try to continue an eight-year period of PT governments in the state, with Fátima Bezerra, maintaining the influence of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in one of the PT strongholds in the Northeast region of the country.

The PT candidate was chosen after the vice-governor, Walter Alves (MDB), withdrew from running.

Allyson Bezerra is a former mayor of Mossoró and during the campaign he tried to dissociate himself from both Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), presenting himself on the networks as a management candidate "pursued by two nationally strong structures that are afraid of losing".

He is being investigated in Operation Mederi, launched in January 2026 to investigate embezzlement of public resources and fraud in public health tenders in Rio Grande do Sul city halls, including Mossoró. He denies participation in a criminal scheme.

Ahead of the polls, Allyson became the main target of her opponents in the final stretch of the campaign. In recent weeks, a video with an alleged conversation about sharing bribes in which Allyson is mentioned as a possible beneficiary began to circulate on social networks.

Lula and Cadu tried to stick the Bolsonarista tag on him. The PL, however, launched the candidacy of Álvaro Dias, supported by senator Rogério Marinho, who heads Flávio's campaign. He came in third place.

Álvaro Dias was mayor of Natal from 2018 to 2024. After leaving the Republicans, Dias announced his affiliation with the PL at an event with Flávio Bolsonaro in March this year.

Also running for government of Rio Grande do Norte were Professor Robério Paulino (PSOL), Arinalda from MLB (UP), Dário Barbosa (PSTU), Henrique Lyra (PCO) and Godeiro Linhares (DC). Rodrigo de Bolsonaro (Agir) withdrew eight days before the vote and declared support for Álvaro Dias.