The electoral dispute for president this year, at least in the first round, was not one of superlatives. There were no big swings in election polls, fierce debates or memorable memes like those in 2022.
In a country in constant turmoil, the race for Palácio do Planalto, which tends to be the absolute protagonist during this period, was sometimes overshadowed by crises — especially that of Banco Master and that of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), with TV Justiça setting audience records.
What was left was content made by artificial intelligence. From Jair Bolsonaro's avatar at the PL convention to the pasteurized aesthetics that flooded political advertisements, much of the creativity was outsourced to robots.
It was a campaign often described as lukewarm. Remember some moments:
Mission impossible
The election period officially began on August 16, but one of the candidates almost stumbled at the start.
With two days left before the registration deadline at the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) was unable to register his candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic.
The reason: he had been affiliated, without his approval, to the MBL (Movimento Brasil Livre) party, Missão. The membership form recorded the senator's address as "Rua dos Bandidos, nº 666, Bairro Miliciano".
On the same day, however, Flávio had his connection to the PL reinstated following a decision by the president of the TSE, Kassio Nunes Marques.
Talk bad about me
In August, the first debate between presidential candidates in the elections was marked by the absence of the main candidates, President Lula (PT) and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.
That didn't stop the two from being the focus of the event. The three candidates who attended did not hold back in criticizing the leaders.
Follow the results of the 1st round of elections on Folha in real time
Ronaldo Caiado (PSD), Renan Santos (Missão) and Augusto Cury (Avante) participated. The meeting broadcast by Band was the most empty inaugural confrontation since redemocratization.
The Mission candidate bet on virulent rhetoric. “You are not coming because you are criminals,” he said about Lula and Flávio. He also stated that both were "running away like bitches" from the debates.
Master Effect
One of the main themes of the campaign was Banco Master, liquidated in 2025 leaving a billionaire hole. Flávio Bolsonaro had to respond numerous times about messages exchanged with banker Daniel Vorcaro, in which he asked for money to pay for the film "Dark Horse", a biopic of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
According to the website The Intercept Brasil, the total value negotiated was R$134 million, and at least R$61 million was paid.
On the eve of Vorcaro's arrest and Master's liquidation by the Central Bank, Flávio sent a message to the former banker: "Brother, I am and will always be with you."
During an interview with Jornal Nacional, at the end of August, Flávio refused to explain the use of the money. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with a son seeking private financing for a film from his own father," he said.
Bolsonaro's son is formally investigated by the Supreme Court in the investigation involving the production. The Federal Police asked to "investigate the possible commission of crimes of money laundering, currency evasion, corruption and other related crimes."
As Folha showed, Flávio promised, at the time the messages were revealed, to account for the film's financing, but ended up delegating this task to the production company Go Up Entertainment, which only presented its own private expertise.
Despite this, the candidate has been criticizing Vorcaro's benefits received by STF ministers throughout his campaign.
Flávio also asked Minister André Mendonça to open an investigation against Lula, to determine whether the president acted in favor of the Master's owner. In messages revealed by the newspaper O Globo, lawyer Walfrido Warde, who was part of Vorcaro's defense, talks about an alleged whiskey that had been given as a gift by the former banker to Lula.
In September, the Federal Police launched an operation against 29 people who allegedly participated in a scheme to divert funds from parliamentary amendments for the film "Dark Horse".
Among the targets of the operation are producer Karina Gama and federal deputy Mario Frias (PL-SP), author of the amendments and a top ally of Flávio. Frias called the operation a "smokescreen" in an election year.
Lulinha case
Investigations into the relationship between one of Lula's sons and lobbyist Roberta Luchsinger have put the issue of corruption once again in the path of the president's election campaign. The PF is investigating Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, known as Lulinha, on suspicion of influence peddling with the federal government.
According to conversations obtained by the PF, Roberta said she was acting on behalf of the president's son.
Lula's allies assessed, behind the scenes, that the situation made the plan to wear down Flávio difficult.
In an interview with Jornal Nacional, Lula called Roberta a "rogue". In the preparatory debates for the interview, there was a consensus among members of the president's team that he should admit disappointment with his son. Later, the PT member said that she was the “female Vorcaro”.
Ascension interrupted
Candidate Augusto Cury, from Avante, looked like he was going to take off, but he lost steam.
In the first Datafolha survey after the registration of candidacies, on August 21st, Cury was behind Ronaldo Caiado (PSD), Renan Santos (Missão) and Zema (Novo). It had 2% voting intentions.
A week passed, and Cury scored 11% in the BTG/Nexus survey. Two days later, at Quaest, the writer reached 10%. The following day, in Datafolha, it was 8%. But it cooled down. In the Datafolha survey last Thursday (1st), it reached 4%.
In two weeks, from August 16 to 29, the writer gained almost 2.5 million followers on Instagram, far ahead of Flávio, Renan and Lula, according to a report by the Instituto Democracia em Xeque.
Just before rising in the polls, Cury participated in a hearing at Jornal Nacional and became a meme online for defending proposals such as using drones to help women in situations of violence, employing influencers in embassies and creating a Ministry of Artificial Intelligence.
Crisis in the STF overshadows the campaign
Amid a lukewarm campaign, the election sometimes lost prominence to the Judiciary.
On the first day of September, minister André Mendonça removed the confidentiality of a report produced by the PF that revealed that Vorcaro was in contact with a person identified as minister Alexandre de Moraes.
In the messages, the former banker asked Moraes, two days before his arrest, if he should leave the country. The dialogues also show that the minister reviewed the R$131 million contract between the Master and the office of his wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes.
In response, Moraes asked Fachin to open an investigation into Mendonça for abuse of authority, impropriety and criminal responsibility.
Mendonça then ordered the removal of Andrei Rodrigues from the general directorate of the Federal Police. The following day, Flávio Dino reinstated Rodrigues to command of the PF.
Pressured by the crisis in the STF, Fachin scheduled a plenary session to discuss whether Alexandre de Moraes should be investigated. On the day of the session, Dino requested a review of the process, which suspended the analysis for up to 90 days.
The presidential candidates tried to capitalize on votes based on the crisis created in the court.
Flávio Bolsonaro sought to associate the figure of Moraes with Lula. The motto "out, Lula; out, Moraes" quickly appeared on the internet. The PT's team, in turn, sought to remove the president's image from the case.
According to research carried out by Datafolha, the accusations against Moraes did not change the preferences of 85% of voters, while those against André Mendonça did not affect 86%.
In another section of the survey, 38% of voters cited Lula as a presidential candidate harmed by the STF crisis, and 31% named Flávio Bolsonaro.
The big bet
With the election knocking on the door and polls showing a tight race, Lula released a package of measures that included a 15% increase in Bolsa Família 17 days before the first round.
The new amount will begin to be paid to program beneficiaries on October 19th, less than a week before the second round of elections, scheduled for the 25th.
The following day, in Guarulhos (SP), Lula said at a rally that, as far as he was concerned, bets would no longer operate in Brazil. With nine days left before the election, he signed a provisional measure to make online betting illegal across the country.
holy war
Another character who took center stage in the final stretch of the campaign was Nossa Senhora Aparecida.
A rumor circulated that Bolsonaro supporters had a proposal to take away the title of patron saint of the country from the saint. There is no record of any statement to this effect from the PL candidate or his advisor.
Flávio, like Jair and Michelle Bolsonaro, maintains a close relationship with the Community of Nations, a church founded by Bishop JB Carvalho. The religious man defended in a book that Our Lady of Aparecida should no longer be recognized as the patron saint of Brazil.
Flávio's allies admitted that the candidate suffered damage to his image with the case.
Lula, at the end of an interview on Wednesday (30), received an image of Our Lady and spoke of never "ending" the saint. The misinformation became ammunition for rivals and opened a religious dispute, exploited even by the vice-president, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), and the first lady, Janja.
The debate that didn't happen
The campaign for the first round came to an end without Lula and Flávio, leaders in the electoral polls, facing each other in a debate.
It is the first time that one of the leading candidates in the polls has not participated in any televised confrontation in the first round since 2006, when Lula, running for re-election, also made this choice.
The last debate would be held by Globo on Thursday (1st). Lula confirmed the day before to the broadcaster that he would not participate.
There was a decision by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) prohibiting Globo from displaying Lula's empty pulpit at the meeting and another by the STF (Supreme Federal Court) in favor of the participation of candidate Renan Santos, from Missão. Flávio then announced that he would not attend. Then the network canceled the debate.
Instead, the broadcaster aired a soap opera.
