Celina Leão and Leandro Grass compete for second round for governor of the Federal District

The result was declared by the TSE during the real-time count, when it was no longer possible for there to be a winner in the first round. Second round will be on October 25th.

By Editorial staff g1 DF, g1 DF

Celina Leão (PP) and Leandro Grass (PT) will compete in the 2nd round for governor in the Federal District.

With 100% of the sections counted, they had 825,530 votes (49.93%) and 569,930 votes (34.47%), respectively.

Until the penultimate update of the system, when only 34 (0.07%) of the 6,969 ballot boxes in the Federal District remained to be counted, it was still not possible to set the result.

The 2nd round will be held on October 25th.

See the profiles of the two candidates below, in alphabetical order.

Who is Celina Leão?

Celina Leão Hizim Ferreira is 45 years old, born in Goiânia, in Goiás, is an administrator and affiliated with the Progressive Party (PP). She arrived at Palácio do Buriti in 2023, as vice-president on the ticket of former DF governor Ibaneis Rocha (MDB).

Celina Leão took over as governor of the DF on March 30, after Ibaneis left the position to run for Senate in the 2026 elections, although he announced his withdrawal 4 months later.

Before taking on the role of vice-governor, Celina Leão served as a federal deputy for the DF, also for the PP, between 2019 and 2022. The former parliamentarian took a seven-month leave of absence in 2020, when she took over the Secretariat of Sport and Leisure of the Federal District, in Ibaneis' first term.

She left the department to participate in the elections for the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies and was one of the main organizers of the campaign of Arthur Lira (PP-AL), who won the dispute.

Celina Leão also served as a district deputy for two consecutive terms, between 2011 and 2019, at the time for the PDT. Upon being re-elected in 2015, the former parliamentarian assumed the presidency of the House.

Who is Leandro Grass?

Leandro Antônio Grass Peixoto is 41 years old, born in Brasília, sociologist and professor, affiliated with the Workers' Party (PT).

This is Grass' second run for governor. In 2022, he was a representative of PV and came second in the election with 434 thousand votes, equivalent to 26.25% of the total – he was defeated in the first round by Ibaneis Rocha, who won re-election.

Between 2018 and 2022, Grass was a district deputy. Between 2023 and 2026, he presided over the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan), linked to the Ministry of Culture. The politician left Iphan to become incompatible and be able to contest this year's elections.

In 2018 and 2022, Grass ran in elections for PV. He joined the PT in 2005 – currently, the two parties and the PCdoB form a federation and operate jointly throughout the country.

How was the 1st round

During her campaign, Celina Leão reinforced that she took on the role of governor at a “delicate” moment – and that, in four months, she “looked for solutions instead of culprits”. She also sought to position herself as "qualified" to command the Palácio do Buriti for another four years.

Leader of voting intention polls since the beginning of the campaign, he was criticized by his opponents in the debates and chose not to participate in some of them.

Leandro Grass promised to prioritize the population of the DF, improving services such as transportation, health and education. "I know Brasília firsthand, which doesn't work for everyone who lives here. It's past time to treat those who live in the cities as a priority," he said in the electoral propaganda.

In the campaign, Grass appeared alongside the president and candidate for re-election Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).