Jair Bolsonaro does not appear on the ballots of the Brazilian elections this October 4, but his family does and on an unprecedented scale. Eight members of the Bolsonaro clan are running for different positions, from the Presidency of the Republic to state assemblies, including the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The group is the family nucleus with the most candidates in the 2026 elections among the main political dynasties analyzed by Congresso em Foco and all its members compete under the initials of the Liberal Party (PL).
The electoral offensive comes at a particularly delicate moment for the former president. Jair Bolsonaro remains away from the polls after the Superior Electoral Court declared him ineligible for eight years starting from the 2022 elections for abuse of political power and misuse of the media. Additionally, he was convicted for attempting to overturn the 2022 electoral result. His absence has forced bolsonarism to seek new faces capable of keeping alive a movement that he turned into one of the main political forces in Brazil.
Flávio Bolsonaro: the son who aspires to succeed his father
The most important candidate of the family is Flávio Bolsonaro, the firstborn of the former president and until now senator from Rio de Janeiro. At 45 years old, he leads the presidential candidacy of the PL accompanied by Alfredo Gaspar as a candidate for vice president. The Superior Electoral Court officially validated his candidacy in September, positioning him as the party's bet to try to recover the Palácio do Planalto against the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the rest of the candidates.
Flávio tries to project a less confrontational tone than his father's without breaking with his political legacy. He has defended conservative positions on security, economy, and social values and has promised to promote measures that legally benefit Jair Bolsonaro and other allies convicted for the events following the 2022 elections. His candidacy turns the presidential elections into the main test to verify to what extent the Bolsonaro surname retains the ability to mobilize the electorate without the former president being able to compete personally.
Michelle Bolsonaro seeks to debut at the polls
The second major family candidacy is that of Michelle Bolsonaro, wife of the former president and first lady between 2019 and 2022. She is running for the Senate for the Federal District, in what is supposed to be her first candidacy for an elected position. Until now, she had developed her influence mainly within the PL, in political events and in organizations linked to the female and evangelical electorate.
Her entry into the electoral competition consolidates a strategy by which different family members try to occupy positions of influence in various institutions. The Senate has a special interest for bolsonarism because in these elections 54 of its 81 seats are renewed, two-thirds of the Chamber, which can significantly modify the political balance during the next presidential term.
Carlos changes Rio de Janeiro for Santa Catarina
Carlos Bolsonaro, the second son of the former president, has left behind his long municipal career in Rio de Janeiro to now aspire to the Senate for Santa Catarina. The former councilman moved his electoral residence to that southern state, one of the territories where bolsonarism has historically obtained some of its best results.
Carlos is also one of the family members who for years has played a central role in his father's digital communication. His leap to the Senate would elevate his profile from municipal politics to the national stage and could lead him to coincide in the Upper House with Michelle Bolsonaro if both are elected.
Jair Renan also competes in Santa Catarina
The youngest male son of the former president, Jair Renan Bolsonaro, has also chosen Santa Catarina to take a new step in his political career. Currently a councilman of Balneário Camboriú, he is running as a candidate for federal deputy for the PL.
His candidacy shows to what extent the next generation has joined the family project. Jair Renan entered institutional politics much later than his older brothers, but now seeks to move from a city council to the Chamber of Deputies in Brasília. If he succeeds, the family would regain direct presence in the Lower House after Eduardo Bolsonaro's departure.
Rogéria Bolsonaro: Jair's ex-wife wants to reach Congress
The list does not end with the current wife and the children of the former president. Rogéria Bolsonaro, first wife of Jair and mother of Flávio, Carlos, and Eduardo, presents herself as a candidate for federal deputy for Rio de Janeiro. Rogéria already had political experience as a councilor in the nineties and now tries to return to a public office within the same party as the rest of the family.
Her candidacy introduces a particularity within the electoral deployment of the clan: at the polls, the current wife of the former president and one of his ex-wives appear simultaneously. Both participate, however, in different competitions and in different territories.
Renato Bolsonaro, the brother of the former president
Another surname comes from São Paulo. Renato Bolsonaro, brother of Jair, presents himself as a federal deputy for the state of São Paulo. He is not a newcomer to politics: he had already run on other occasions for different positions and was elected councilor of Praia Grande in the 1990s, although his electoral trajectory has been quite less successful than that of his brother.
Now he tries to reach the Chamber of Deputies for the first time in a decisive state due to its demographic and economic weight. His candidacy completes the expansion of Jair's closest core beyond Rio de Janeiro, the territory where the family political career began.
Valéria and Marcelo complete the eight Bolsonaro
The last two names belong to more distant branches of the former president. Valéria Bolsonaro, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo, aspires to renew her seat. Her link with Jair is familial by marriage: she is married to a distant cousin of the former president. Marcelo Bolsonaro, also a distant relative, competes for a state deputy position in São Paulo as well.
The inclusion of both explains why some information speaks of "eight Bolsonaro" despite the fact that not all belong to the most immediate circle of the former leader. A count from Congresso em Foco includes close and more distant relatives registered with the Electoral Justice, but leaves out 21 candidates who use "Bolsonaro" in their electoral name without being related to the family.
The eight candidates of the Bolsonaro family
The deployment is distributed as follows: Flávio Bolsonaro, presidential candidate; Michelle Bolsonaro, for the Senate for the Federal District; Carlos Bolsonaro, for the Senate for Santa Catarina; Jair Renan Bolsonaro, for federal deputy for Santa Catarina; Rogéria Bolsonaro, for federal deputy for Rio de Janeiro; Renato Bolsonaro, for federal deputy for São Paulo; and Valéria Bolsonaro and Marcelo Bolsonaro, candidates for state deputies for São Paulo.
All run under the initials of the Liberal Party, but their results will be decided in different elections and there is no single result for the family. Flávio is vying for access to the Presidency; Michelle and Carlos, two different races for the Senate; and the other five seek federal or state legislative representation.
Jair and Eduardo, the two great absentees
Paradoxically, two of the most well-known members of the clan cannot run. The first is Jair Bolsonaro himself, whose electoral disqualification imposed by the TSE prevents him from running in these elections. The eight-year sanction counts from the 2022 elections and originated from a meeting with ambassadors in which the then-president questioned without evidence the reliability of the Brazilian electoral system.
The other absentee is Eduardo Bolsonaro, former federal deputy and son of the former president. Eduardo, who resides outside Brazil, lost his mandate and is not participating in the 2026 elections. His absence leaves Flávio, Carlos, and Jair Renan as the three sons of Jair present at the polls this Sunday.
From the family surname to a national political structure
The presence of eight candidates shows the transformation of the Bolsonaros from a family linked for decades to the politics of Rio de Janeiro to a electoral structure distributed across different territories of the country. Jair started as a councilor in Rio in 1988, spent almost three decades as a federal deputy, and reached the Presidency in 2019. His children later entered municipal, state, and federal institutions, turning the surname into a politically recognizable brand on a national scale.
The 2026 elections will now measure that weight without Jair Bolsonaro as a candidate. The family simultaneously aspires to the Presidency, two seats in the Senate, three positions as federal deputies, and two seats in a state assembly. More than a single candidacy, bolsonarism has deployed the surname at different levels of Brazilian power to try to maintain its influence beyond the political career of its founder.