Sul and Southeast secure Flávio Bolsonaro's lead over Lula in first round

The performance of Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) in the South and Southeast was decisive for the senator to close the first round of the 2026 presidential elections ahead of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). The advantages obtained in these regions compensated the favorable difference to the president in the Northeast, where the petista won in all the states.

With the totalization of the electoral sections, Flávio reached 56,104,503 votes, equivalent to 47.03% of the valid votes. Lula received 53,879,538 votes, or 45.16%. The distance between the candidates was 2,224,965 votes, corresponding to 1.87 percentage points. The two will play the second round on October 25.

São Paulo had the highest balance favorable to Flavio

According to the survey published by g1, São Paulo was the main highlight in the composition of the national advantage of the PL candidate. In the state, Flavio received approximately 3.4 million more votes than Lula.

The senator also built favorable differences in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo. The performance in the Southeast gained relevance due to the size of the electoral colleges: São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro together concentrate more than 40% of Brazilian voters.

In this scenario, the difference between the candidates in the most populous states had an expressive weight in the national result. Only Flávio’s advantages in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have already offset an important part of the balance won by Lula in the Northeast.

Paraná and Santa Catarina strengthened the advantage

In the South, Paraná and Santa Catarina also contributed to the senator’s leadership. According to the numbers presented by the G1, Flavio opened up differences of more than 1.8 million votes in each of these states.

Also read: Rainy week will have gangorra in the temperatures in the Paraná

The results helped to extend the balance of the candidate of the PL outside the Northeast. Considering all the other regions, Flavio’s cumulative advantage over Lula stood at approximately 13 million votes.

Lula opened about 11 million votes in the Northeast

The main basis of the president's advantage was the Northeast. In the region, Lula accumulated a balance of approximately 11 million votes over the opponent. The biggest differences favorable to the petista appeared in Bahia, with more than 3.2 million votes, and in Pernambuco and Ceará, with about 1.8 million in each state, according to the survey.

Despite this regional leadership, the national sum placed Flavio in the first position. As no candidate got more than half of the valid votes, the definition of the Presidency was left for the second round.