The definition of who will rule Rio de Janeiro in the next four years can be defined before the second round, on October 25, in a scenario that can favor the candidate supported by Flávio Bolsonaro (PL).
© Getty Images/MAURO PIMENTAL / AFP
05/10/2026
by
Lusa
Da Member and president of the state legislature of Rio de Janeiro, Douglas Ruas (PL), 37 years old, exceeded the expectations pointed out in the polls of intention to vote, having registered in the first round 4.271,199 votes, 49.27%, of the votes scrutinized.
The former mayor of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, who obtained 3,706,984 of the valid votes (42.7 ̈6%), is a central politician of the PSD, who had the support of the current President Lula da Silva.
The result, which will decide whether or not to perform a second round in Rio, needs to be confirmed by the Superior Electoral Court, taking into account that one of the competitors, Anthony Garotinho, whose application “sub judice” allowed him to compete in the race benefiting from a provisional and urgent judicial decision, will now have to be confirmed by the Superior Electoral Court.
Little boy was allowed to contest the election, but the votes he received, even though computed in the electoral calculation, depend on the judgment of the Superior Electoral Court, which is to close the controversy about the future of the votes.
If the TSE decides, before the second round, to invalidate the 274,411 votes that Garotinho received, the final calculation on valid votes for the position of Governor of Rio de Janeiro changes, which will cause Douglas Ruas to get 50.88%.
Since March this year, Rio de Janeiro has been temporarily governed by the president of the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice, judge Ricardo Couto, fourth in the succession line of the command of the state executive, and who did not participate in the elections.
The chair for the state executive became “vaga”, after the governor and deputy resign, and the third person in the succession line, then president of the Rio de Janeiro State Legislative, did not take charge of the Guanabara Palace, because he was arrested in March for involvement with the criminal faction Red Command.
With the arrest and removal of Rodrigo Bacellar, the deputies held an internal election in April, and Douglas Ruas became the new president of Rio de Janeiro State Legislative.