Bolsonaro Family Wins Big in Brazil Elections as Flávio Leads First Round

Last weekend's elections in Brazil not only put former president Jair Bolsonaro's eldest son, Flávio Bolsonaro, ahead in the presidential race but also showed just how firmly the former president has built a political dynasty.

As far-right congressman Flávio Bolsonaro advances to a second round against leftist incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the far right's sweeping victories in congressional races also secured seats for Jair Bolsonaro's wife, two sons and a brother.

Few family members have spent time outside politics since the patriarch led the way four decades ago, but the offices they now hold have been significantly upgraded.

Former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, 44, who campaigned while caring for her husband as he serves house arrest over a coup plot, ran for office for the first time and was elected senator.

Bolsonaro's second son, Carlos Bolsonaro, 43, seen as the most radical of the siblings — he once ran his father's social media accounts and was charged by federal police with leading a so-called "hate cabinet" that spread fake news and attacked opponents — was also elected senator for the first time.

His previous political career was confined to 25 years as a Rio de Janeiro city councillor, starting at 17 when his father put him forward to run against his own mother, Rogéria Bolsonaro, who had divorced Jair. Carlos won. (Rogéria also ran for the state legislature on Sunday, still using the Bolsonaro name, but lost.)

The patriarch's fourth son, Jair Renan Valle Bolsonaro, 28, who dropped two middle names on the ballot to run simply as Jair Bolsonaro, jumped from city councillor to federal congressman.

Of Bolsonaro's five children, only his 15-year-old daughter has never held political office.

Even the former president's brother, Renato Bolsonaro, 62, nicknamed "the brother who can't win" after seven straight defeats in lower-level elections, was elected. He went from fewer than 10,000 votes in a mayoral race two years ago to 380,000 votes for a congressional seat.

On the campaign trail, Renato caused a little family tension when he said that "Flávio is not Jair. He doesn't draw crowds." At the polls, however, Flávio won more votes than his father did in 2018 and 2022, though some see the result as an anti-Lula vote rather than strong support for the senator.

The number of Bolsonaros holding office could have been even higher if "son No. 03", Eduardo Bolsonaro, 42, had not given up his congressional seat and gone into self-imposed exile in the United States, where for more than a year he has lobbied for what Lula and many others regard as Donald Trump's attempt to interfere in Brazil's election.

Although Michelle is the family's newest entrant into politics, she is often seen as a leading figure in the Bolsonaro clan. In a July survey, she was ranked the most powerful woman in Brazilian politics, far ahead of current first lady Janja Lula da Silva, along with a supreme court justice and several senators.

"She is a phenomenon," said Camila Rocha, a researcher at the Brazilian Centre for Analysis and Planning who has interviewed voters and studied the Brazilian right for a decade. "Even Bolsonaro voters don't like his sons very much, but many of them like Michelle, who is very charismatic."

The daughter of a housewife and a retired bus driver in the metropolitan area around Brasília, Michelle worked as a parliamentary secretary for another politician at 25 when she met Bolsonaro, then a 52-year-old congressman. She is his third wife.

When he took office as president in 2019, Michelle made history as the first and only Brazilian first lady to speak at an inauguration. She spoke in Brazilian Sign Language, which she mastered while working as an interpreter at Protestant church services — her devoutness is seen as one of the main assets that helped Bolsonaro forge close ties with evangelical voters.

Though she played by the rules of Bolsonaro's party, Michelle was at the centre of one of the most controversial moments of Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign when she said she had been "insulted", "disrespected" and "badly treated" by the senator. Reports of tension between her and her stepchildren appear frequently. With her popularity, Flávio had to apologise publicly — and although Michelle accepted the apology, the two did not campaign together.

Polls show Bolsonaro supporters would rather have the former first lady as presidential candidate, but the patriarch chose his eldest son and gave her the senator's role. "That is the mission my husband gave me, and I will represent him, God willing," she said in August.

Michelle and the Bolsonaro sons are also credited with helping secure victories for other far-right candidates from Bolsonaro's party, which will have the largest bloc in the next congress.

"Even though the family has been in politics for a long time, many voters still see Bolsonaro as representing 'change' and an anti-establishment vote," Rocha said.

"So to change everything, these voters want to throw a 'bomb' to blow up congress and Lula. And that bomb is the Bolsonaro clan," she added.