Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) and Lula (PT) compete in the 2nd round — Photo: Diego Herculano/Reuters and Adriano Machado/Reuters
The MDB is divided in the second round of the presidential election. Of the party's 27 state directories, 16 declared support for Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), while ten announced that they will side with Lula (PT). In one state, members were free to vote for the candidate of their preference.
The division became evident this Tuesday (13). At an event held in São Paulo, the national president of the MDB, Baleia Rossi, announced the support of the majority of state directorates for Flávio Bolsonaro. The candidate participated in the meeting, which brought together representatives from these states.
During the afternoon, the wing of the party in favor of the re-election of Lula and Geraldo Alckmin also formalized its position.
See the breakdown below:
The MDB directories in 16 states and the Federal District support Flávio Bolsonaro: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, Rio Grande do Norte, Mato Grosso, Distrito Federal, Goiás, Amapá, Acre, Tocantins, Roraima, Espírito Santo and Mato Grosso do Sul.
MDB directories in ten states support Lula: Amazonas, Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Pará, Pernambuco, Piauí, Paraíba and Rondônia.
The MDB of Sergipe released its members to vote for the candidate of their preference. Despite this, the directory sent a representative to meet with Flávio Bolsonaro, in São Paulo.
MDB directories in the states are divided between supporting Flávio Bolsonaro and Lula in the 2nd round — Photo: Arte/g1
The event in favor of Flávio was attended by the mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes, and the vice-governor of São Paulo, Felício Ramuth -- both from MDB.
The meeting took place at the campaign committee of the re-elected governor, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), another supporter of the senator and former minister in the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
"We made the decision that the people took at the polls in the first round, which is the desire for change. And wanting Flávio to repeat the management [of] Ricardo Nunes and [of] Tarcísio de Freitas", stated Rossi, about the choice of the majority of the MDB to be with Flávio Bolsonaro.
On the other hand, the MDB directorates that declared support for Lula are concentrated in the Northeast and North regions. In these states, the party brings together influential political leaders, such as the Calheiros families, in Alagoas, and Barbalho, in Pará, who were at the president's side throughout his third term.
In the 2026 elections, the MDB elected seven senators. Some of them contested the election in coalitions with Lula and the PT (AM, PA and PI), while others were aligned with the local opposition (RR, SE and TO). In Paraíba, the MDB candidate received Lula's support, although he did not formally form an alliance with the president.
2nd round on October 25th
Flávio Bolsonaro and Lula were the two candidates for the Presidency of the Republic with the most votes in the 1st round, held on October 4th. The senator had 47.03% of the valid votes, while the current president had 45.16%. The distance of 1.87 percentage points, according to data from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), was the smallest in history in a 1st round.
They left behind Augusto Cury (Avante), Renan Santos (Missão), Ronaldo Caiado (PSD), Romeu Zema (Novo), Edmilson Dias (PCB), Hertz Dias (PSTU), Samara Martins (UP), Wilson Grassi (Democrat), Clariana Barão (DC) and Rui Costa Pimenta (PCO), who announced their positions for the 2nd round. See below:
Flávio Bolsonaro received support from: Cury, Zema, Caiado and Clariana Barão;
Lula received support from: Edmilson Costa, Hertz Dias and Samara;
Two other candidates had neutral positions: Rui Costa Pimenta recommended a null vote, while Renan Santos released his supporters. Wilson Grassi did not take a position.
Flávio has the support of two candidates who received the most votes: Cury received 2.89% of the valid votes and Caiado, 2.18%. Neutral, Renan Satnos had 2.24% and the others had less than 1% of the votes.
Among Brazilian parties, Flávio Bolsonaro has the support of Avante, DC, NOVO, Podemos, PP, PRTB, Republicans and União Brasil. The PL was on a purebred ticket in the 1st round.
Lula, on the other hand, received voting instructions in his favor from PCB, PSTU and UP, which were not in his 1st round alliance, formed by PCdoB, PDT, PSB, PSOL, PV and Rede.
