Who is Flávio Bolsonaro?
Flávio Nantes Bolsonaro, born in 1981, is former president Jair Bolsonaro's eldest son. He was a member of the Rio de Janeiro state legislature before reaching the Federal Senate, where his term for that state runs 2019 to 2027. December 2025 saw his father name him the right's presidential candidate, and in July 2026 the Liberal Party confirmed it. He led the 4 October 2026 first round, taking 47.03 percent of valid votes. In the 25 October runoff, though, the Superior Electoral Court recorded 48.21 percent for him against 51.79 percent for Lula. That night he declared that he would not recognise the result and would seek annulment, pointing to a Supreme Court justice's order that extended voting hours. The electoral court responded that the order left the count unchanged. By the next day, allies were saying he had given up on annulment, preferring legal actions that allege abuse of power by the Lula campaign, and that he would organise the opposition in Congress.
Previously: PL presidential candidate in 2026; lost the 25 October runoff to Lula with 48.21 percent · Senator for Rio de Janeiro (2019-2027 term) · Member of the Rio de Janeiro state legislature (before 2019)
Documented positions
- Under his government plan, at least ten ministries would go, commissioned posts would shrink and the National Privatization Program would be revived.Source: acritica.net
- Wants a lower value-added tax rate within the consumption tax reform, a gradual cut in payroll charges and lower taxes on energy and fuel.Source: bpmoney.com.br
- Wants new maximum-security federal prisons, a lower age of criminal responsibility, and no more sentence progression where heinous crimes are concerned.Source: acritica.net
- Would restrict the effect of individual Supreme Court rulings and send criminal trials of senior officials down from that court to lower ones.Source: acritica.net
- A constitutional amendment to end presidential re-election is something he has filed in the Senate.Source: acritica.net
- If an amnesty law fails to pass, he has said he would pardon people convicted over the attacks of 8 January 2023.Source: sbtnews.sbt.com.br
- He has said that any Supreme Court justice he nominated would be opposed to abortion and to drug legalisation.Source: agorarn.com.br
- Promised that Brazil would join the Shield of the Americas, a US-led alliance against organised crime.Source: metropoles.com
Record
He sits on the Senate's public security committee and has concentrated on opposing the Lula government, on crime and on judicial reform. In September 2025 his father, Jair Bolsonaro, was convicted by a Supreme Court panel on a charge of plotting a coup once the 2022 election was over. The sentence was 27 years and three months, and the conviction became final in November 2025. Flávio has pushed for amnesty covering anyone convicted over 8 January 2023.
His security agenda, spending cuts and promise of change are what supporters point to. Critics point to the amnesty and pardon pledges, to his Supreme Court proposals, to his refusal to recognise the runoff result and to a plan that says little about social policy or how spending would be cut.
