Sixteen candidates are competing, in the 2026 elections, for 2 seats in Rio de Janeiro in the Federal Senate. Those elected will serve an 8-year term, from 2027 to 2035.
The 1st round is scheduled for October 4th. In the Senate election, there is no 2nd round. As 2 of the 3 seats in RJ will be up for grabs in the state, each voter will be able to vote for 2 candidates.
Today, Rio is represented in the Senate by Romário (PL), Carlos Portinho (PL) and Flávio Bolsonaro (PL). Portinho and Flávio's terms end in January 2027. Portinho is seeking re-election, while Flávio is running for President of the Republic.
See the candidates for Senate from RJ below (in alphabetical order):
André Monteiro (Democrat)
Benedita da Silva (PT)
Carlos Jordy (PL)
Carlos Portinho (PL)
Helio Secco (Mission)
Luciano Mattos (PRTB)
Luiz Eugenio (PCO)
Marcelo Crivella (Republicans)
Marcos Dias (May)
Michelle Xavier (UP)
Monica Benicio (Psol)
O Clemente (Democrat)
Paula Falcão (PSTU)
Pedro Paulo (PSD)
Vinicius Benevides (UP)
Waguinho (Republicans)
André Monteiro (Democrat)
Retired military police officer Luiz André de Moura Monteiro is from Rio, 55 years old and graduated in Law.
In the Military Police, he spent more than 20 years in the Special Operations Battalion (Bope) and is co-author of the book "A retake do Complexo do Alemão", about the famous occupation operation in 2010.
In politics, with a career linked to public security, he has been a candidate since 2012: he has tried to be a councilor, deputy and even governor (in 2018, for PRTB). He was the first substitute on Daniel Silveira's Senate ticket in 2022.
Benedita da Silva (PT)
Federal deputy Benedita da Silva, aged 84, has already held some of the main positions in Rio de Janeiro politics.
She was elected Rio councilor in 1982 and reached the Chamber of Deputies four years later. In 1994, she won a seat in the Senate and became the first black woman elected senator in the country.
Benedita was also vice-governor of Rio on Anthony Garotinho's ticket and took over the state government in 2002 when the governor resigned to try to become president. In the federal government, he commanded the Special Secretariat for Social Assistance and Promotion during President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's first term.
Since 2011, he has returned to serve in the Chamber of Deputies. He also ran for Mayor of Rio in 2020.
Carlos Jordy (PL)
Carlos Jordy, aged 44, is a federal deputy and began his political career in Niterói, the city where he was born.
He was elected councilor in 2016. Two years later, he won his first term in the Chamber of Deputies and was re-elected in 2022.
Jordy also led the opposition in the Chamber between 2023 and 2024.
In the 2024 municipal election, he ran for Mayor of Niterói and reached the second round, when he received 42.8% of the valid votes.
Carlos Portinho (PL)
Carlos Portinho, 53 years old, currently occupies one of Rio's three seats in the Senate.
Lawyer, he has been a member of municipal and state governments. He was municipal secretary of Housing in Rio and state secretary of the Environment.
Portinho ran for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies in 2014 and was a substitute. In 2018, he was elected 1st substitute for senator Arolde de Oliveira.
With the death of Arolde, in 2020, he assumed his mandate in the Senate. Between 2022 and 2023, he was leader of the Jair Bolsonaro government in the House.
Helio Secco (Mission)
Helio Secco, 37 years old, is a biologist, professor and entrepreneur. Born in Petrópolis, he has a doctorate in Environmental Sciences and a specialization in Public Management. He also works as an environmental consultant.
In 2022, he participated in the dispute for the government of Rio as a candidate for vice on Paulo Ganime's ticket.
Luciano Mattos (PRTB)
Born in Niterói, Luciano Mattos spent his childhood in Rio Bonito, where he started working at the age of 15 as an assistant in a Notary's Office. Afterwards, he returned to Niterói after being approved in a competition to become a public prosecutor at the Public Ministry of the State of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ).
In 1994, already graduated in Law, he passed the exam for judicial technician and was assigned to the 28th Criminal Court of the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro and, later, to the Council of the Judiciary.
The following year, he became a prosecutor after passing the MPRJ exam. In 2021, he was elected Attorney General of Rio de Janeiro, a position he held until 2023.
Luiz Eugenio (PCO)
Born in Vassouras, Luiz Eugênio Honorato is 63 years old and is a retired metallurgist from Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN).
With 40 years of political activism, he participated in the founding of the Workers' Cause Party (PCO) and currently presides over the party's municipal directory.
In politics, he was a candidate for state government in 2018 and for mayor in 2020.
Marcelo Crivella (Republicans)
Marcelo Crivella, 68 years old, is a federal deputy and has been a senator, minister and mayor of Rio.
Civil engineer and licensed bishop of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, between 2012 and 2014, during the Dilma Rousseff government, he commanded the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Crivella won the election for Rio Mayor in 2016. Four years later, he sought re-election, but was defeated in the second round by Eduardo Paes.
In 2022, he was elected federal deputy.
Marcos Dias (We can)
Marcos Dias, 54 years old, is a Rio councilor, businessman, consultant and pastor of the Assembly of God.
He was elected to the City Council in 2020 and re-elected in 2024.
In 2023, he joined Rio City Hall as Secretary of Metropolitan Integration.
At the City Council, he chairs the Human Rights and Citizenship Commission. He is also municipal president of Podemos.
Michelle Xavier
Michelly Xavier is a lawyer, raised in the Vila Operária favela, in Duque de Caxias, and resident of Xerém.
According to the party, it works to educate young people and adults and builds the Olga Benário Women's Movement.
It also fights against real estate speculation and for the defense of the environment in Baixada Fluminense.
Monica Benicio (PSOL)
Monica Benicio, 40 years old, is a Rio councilor, urban architect and widow of councilor Marielle Franco.
He began to play a prominent role in human rights movements and in defense of LGBTQIA+ issues after the murder of his wife in 2018.
Monica was elected to the Rio City Council in 2020 and won a new term in 2024.
O Clemente (Democrat)
Clemente Sebastião de Almeida Campos, who registered with the TSE as Ó Clemente, is a retired public servant and Democratic candidate for the Senate.
Clemente was a candidate for federal deputy in 2002 and 2006, when he received 20,748 and 1,898 votes, respectively. In 2004, he ran for a seat in the Rio City Council and ended the election with 750 votes.
Paula Falcão (PSTU)
Paula Falcão, 43 years old, is a teacher and state director of PSTU.
He is also a member of the board of the State Union of Education Professionals of Rio de Janeiro (Sepe-RJ).
In the 2024 elections, she was a candidate for vice-mayor of Rio on the ticket led by Cyro Garcia.
Pedro Paulo (PSD)
Pedro Paulo is a federal deputy and economist.
He was deputy mayor of Barra and held the municipal departments of Environment, Civil House and Finance and Planning. He was also Chief Secretary of the Civil House of Rio de Janeiro and has been a federal deputy since 2011, with four consecutive terms.
Political ally of Eduardo Paes, he is running for one of Rio's seats in the Senate for the PSD.
Vinicius Benevides (UP)
Vinicius Benevides is a candidate for the Senate for UP in RJ.
Waguinho (Republicans)
Waguinho won the race for Mayor of Belford Roxo in 2016 and was re-elected four years later.
He is married to federal deputy and former Minister of Tourism Daniela Carneiro.
