Cleitinho Azevedo leads with 53% of valid votes in a Datafolha survey for the Government of Minas Gerais

Senator Cleitinho Azevedo (Republicans) has 53% of valid voting intentions in the race for Government of Minas Gerais, shows a Datafolha survey released this Saturday (3). The survey points to the possibility of the candidate winning in the first round.

Federal deputy Patrus Ananias (PT), former mayor of Belo Horizonte, appears in second place, with 21% of valid voting intentions. Next is Alexandre Kalil (PDT), who has also governed the capital of Minas Gerais, with 9%.

The counting of valid votes is compared to the process used by the Electoral Court during the official count. The method excludes blanks, nulls and undecideds from the count. A candidate needs to obtain 50% of the valid votes plus one vote to win the election in the first round.

Businessman Flávio Roscoe (PL) and current governor Mateus Simões (PSD), who was vice-president of current presidential candidate Romeu Zema (Novo), each scored 4%.

Next, still in the calculation of valid votes, are Gabriel Azevedo (MDB), with 3%, and Ben Mendes (Missão), 2%.

Túlio Lopes (PCB), Rafael Duda (PSTU) and Henrique Areas (PCO) appear with 1% each. Indira Xavier (UP) was mentioned, but did not reach 1%.

Datafolha heard in person 2,010 voters aged 16 or over in Minas Gerais between Friday (2) and this Saturday (3). The maximum margin of error is plus or minus two percentage points and the confidence level for estimates is 95%.

The survey was commissioned by Folha and Globo and is registered with the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) under number MG-06705/2026.

When considering the total votes, Cleitinho has 44%. Patrus scores 18%, and Kalil, 8%. In the survey released by the institute on Thursday (1st), Cleitinho scored 40%, compared to 16% for Patrus and 11% for Kalil.

Next, considering the total vote scenario, are Roscoe, with 4%, and Simões, 3%. Gabriel also scores 3%, while Ben Mendes, Túlio Lopes, Rafael Duda and Henrique Areas each appear with 1%. Indira Xavier did not score.

Blanks and nulls account for 6%; while undecided people score 11%.

Cleitinho still leads in the second round simulations. In a possible confrontation between the senator and Patrus, the Republican candidate would beat the PT candidate by 60% to 25% in the total votes. In the scenario, undecided voters total 7%, while 8% declare their vote blank or null.

Against Kalil, Cleitinho would also score 60%, compared to 24% for the former mayor of Belo Horizonte. In this case, blanks or nulls make up 9%, while 7% say they are undecided.

In the spontaneous survey, in which the names of the candidates are not previously presented to the voters interviewed, Cleitinho scores 29%, Patrus appears with 11% and Kalil, with 3%.

Simões, Roscoe and Gabriel appear with 1% each. Voters who say they vote for the PT or the PT candidate are also 1%. Another 1% say they vote for former governor Romeu Zema.

Other responses add up to 7%. White or null are 5%, and undecided, 39%.