The 9 candidates for the government of Rio de Janeiro covered 45 of the state's 92 municipalities during the 1st round of the 2026 elections, according to a survey carried out by g1 with the commitments released by the campaigns between August 16th and September 30th.
The capital appeared frequently, but cities in Baixada Fluminense and the interior were also part of the candidates' itinerary.
Main survey numbers:
Douglas Ruas (PL) was in 26 different municipalities;
Anthony Garotinho (Republicans) was in 21 cities;
Eduardo Paes (PSD), in 19;
Colonel Busnello (Mission) was in 17 municipalities;
Cyro Garcia (PSTU), in 12;
William Siri (PSOL), in 11;
André Marinho (New), in 10;
and Juliete Pantoja (UP), in 8.
Luan Monteiro (PCO) did not have any municipalities counted, because the material records, on several dates, that the team did not disclose the agenda or did not inform the location of the activities.
The research considered each campaign activity disclosed. Online events, internal meetings and appointments without a sufficiently informed location were not included in the territorial count. When an agenda indicated activities in more than one city, the municipalities mentioned were considered individually.
Streets covered in more municipalities
Douglas Ruas held diaries in different areas of the state, with records in municipalities such as Angra dos Reis, Búzios, Barra Mansa, Barra do Piraí, Cabo Frio, Duque de Caxias, Guapimirim, Itaboraí, Itaguaí, Japeri, Macuco, Magé, Mangaratiba, Mesquita, Niterói, Nova Friburgo, Nova Iguaçu, Queimados, Resende, Rio Bonito, Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, São Gonçalo, São João de Meriti and Volta Redonda.
Garotinho also had a broad territorial agenda. In addition to the capital and Baixada, the candidate appears in cities such as Angra dos Reis, Barra Mansa, Itaguaí, Itatiaia, Macaé, Porto Real, Quatis, Quissamã, Resende and Volta Redonda.
On September 23, for example, the campaign scheduled a sequence of walks through 6 municipalities in Southern Fluminense: Volta Redonda, Barra Mansa, Porto Real, Quatis, Itatiaia and Resende.
Eduardo Paes also distributed diaries across different regions, with records in Araruama, Búzios, Cabo Frio, Campos dos Goytacazes, Guapimirim, Iguaba Grande, Magé, Niterói, Nova Friburgo, Nova Iguaçu, Paracambi, Petrópolis, São Gonçalo, São João de Meriti, São Pedro da Aldeia, Volta Redonda and Rio de Janeiro.
Baixada was a recurring presence
Baixada Fluminense appears on the agendas of practically all candidates. Duque de Caxias, Nova Iguaçu and Belford Roxo are among the most frequent municipalities in the survey. The region also appears on agendas that brought together several cities on the same day.
On September 20, for example, Garotinho passed through Nilópolis, Mesquita, Nova Iguaçu and Queimados in sequence.
The following day, the candidate returned to planning activities in Nilópolis, São João de Meriti and Duque de Caxias. Paes also took, on different dates, walks in Nova Iguaçu, São João de Meriti, Duque de Caxias and Belford Roxo.
Considering the territorial division of Baixada used in the survey, the 13 municipalities that make up this section appear at least once in the analyzed agendas.
Douglas Ruas had records in 11 municipalities in Baixada; Little boy, at 9; Paes, in 7; André Marinho and Cyro Garcia, in 6 each; Colonel Busnello, in 5; and Juliete Pantoja and William Siri, at 3 each.
The most disputed cities
When the analysis stops considering the number of times each candidate was in a city and starts counting how many different candidates had a registered agenda in the city, 4 locations appear at the top.
Duque de Caxias, Niterói, Nova Iguaçu and Rio de Janeiro had registrations from 8 of the nine candidates.
Next appear:
Duque de Caxias — 8 candidates: Only Luan Monteiro did not register an agenda in the city.
Niterói — 8 candidates: Only Luan Monteiro did not register an agenda in the city.
Nova Iguaçu — 8 candidates: Only Luan Monteiro did not register an agenda in the city.
Rio de Janeiro — 8 candidates: Only Luan Monteiro did not register an agenda in the city.
Belford Roxo — 6 candidates: André Marinho, Anthony Garotinho, Cyro Garcia, Coronel Busnello, Douglas Ruas and Eduardo Paes.
São Gonçalo — 6 candidates: André Marinho, Cyro Garcia, Douglas Ruas, Eduardo Paes, Juliete Pantoja and William Siri.
Volta Redonda — 6 candidates: Anthony Garotinho, Cyro Garcia, Coronel Busnello, Douglas Ruas, Eduardo Paes and William Siri.
Barra Mansa — 4 candidates: Anthony Garotinho, Coronel Busnello, Douglas Ruas and William Siri.
Cabo Frio — 4 candidates: Coronel Busnello, Douglas Ruas, Eduardo Paes and William Siri.
Mesquita — 4 candidates: Anthony Garotinho, Cyro Garcia, Coronel Busnello and Douglas Ruas.
Nilópolis — 4 candidates: André Marinho, Anthony Garotinho, Cyro Garcia and Coronel Busnello.
Queimados — 4 candidates: André Marinho, Anthony Garotinho, Cyro Garcia and Douglas Ruas.
São João de Meriti — 4 candidates: André Marinho, Anthony Garotinho, Douglas Ruas and Eduardo Paes.
The survey also shows 3 candidates present in municipalities such as Búzios, Campos dos Goytacazes, Magé, Nova Friburgo, Resende and Seropédica.
Featured capital
The capital was, by far, the municipality with the highest number of campaign activities by candidates for the government of RJ.
When counting records, Rio de Janeiro appears 318 times. Following are Duque de Caxias, with 21; Nova Iguaçu, with 19; Niterói, with 16; São Gonçalo, with 14; and Belford Roxo, with 10.
They also had a relevant volume of agendas: Nilópolis, São João de Meriti, Volta Redonda, Petrópolis and Resende.
Concentration in the capital does not mean, however, that all of the candidates' activities have been registered with the municipality. The file also brings together appointments without addresses, internal diaries, recordings, hearings and online activities, which were removed from the territorial count when it was not possible to determine the location.
Tijuca and Madureira among the most frequent neighborhoods
Within the city of Rio, the survey allows us to identify a greater concentration of agendas in some neighborhoods and regions.
Among the neighborhoods with the highest number of records are Tijuca, Madureira, Campo Grande, Botafogo, Barra da Tijuca, Copacabana, Méier and Bangu.
Maracanã, Penha, Jacarepaguá, Laranjeiras, Santa Cruz, Taquara, Glória and Recreio also appear repeatedly.
Madureira, for example, appears on different candidates' agendas and in different activities, including walks, leafleting and meetings. On September 19, Paes took a walk at Mercadão de Madureira, while Juliete Pantoja had a political event, leafleting and a visit to the Império Serrano court, which is in the same region.
Tijuca also appears repeatedly, with candidate activities in different parts of the neighborhood and in nearby locations, such as Maracanã, Praça Saens Peña and Colégio Pedro II.
Capital, Baixada and interior
Considering the different municipalities reached by each campaign, the map shows three large blocks of territorial presence: capital, Baixada and interior.
Of the 45 municipalities identified in the survey, one is the capital, 13 are in the Baixada section and 31 are outside these two groups.
Among the municipalities in the interior, cities from different regions appear, such as Volta Redonda, Barra Mansa, Resende, Angra dos Reis, Petrópolis, Nova Friburgo, Campos dos Goytacazes, Macaé, Rio das Ostras, Cabo Frio, Búzios, São Pedro da Aldeia, Araruama, Itaperuna and São João da Barra.
The agendas also reached smaller municipalities, such as Engenheiro Paulo de Frontin, Macuco, Quatis, Porto Real, Quissamã, Carapebus and Maricá.
All major regions visited
The material records agendas in Baixada Fluminense, Metropolitan Region, South Fluminense, Lagos Region, North Fluminense, Serrana Region and Costa Verde, in addition to the capital.
The Lagos Region appears, for example, in a schedule by Paes who visited Cabo Frio, Búzios, São Pedro da Aldeia, Iguaba Grande and Araruama on the same day.
In the South of Rio de Janeiro, in addition to the sequence of 6 cities visited by Garotinho, the material records activities of other candidates in Volta Redonda, Barra Mansa and Resende.
In the Mountain Region, Petrópolis and Nova Friburgo appear. In North Fluminense, Campos dos Goytacazes and municipalities in the Macaé, Quissamã and Carapebus range appear on the agendas.
On the Costa Verde, there are records in Angra dos Reis and Mangaratiba.
