Data from the Superior Electoral Court's (TSE) DivulgaCandContas platform show that the two leading candidates for governor of Ceará, incumbent Elmano de Freitas of the Workers' Party (PT) and former minister Ciro Gomes of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), have received million-real donations from businesspeople linked to major companies in the state, as of Tuesday morning (25th), according to the newspaper O Povo.
Ciro Gomes received R$ 1 million (roughly $200,000) from brothers Alexandre Grendene Bartelle and Pedro Grendene Bartelle, partners in the footwear company Grendene, one of Brazil's largest shoe manufacturers. Each brother transferred R$ 500,000 to his campaign. So far these are the only donations listed for Ciro. In 2022 the Grendene brothers had donated to Elmano's campaign, but they do not appear among his 2026 donors, according to the data reviewed by O Povo.
Elmano de Freitas has so far declared R$ 1,208,000 in donations, of which R$ 1,108,000 came from individuals, accounting for 91.72% of the funds raised by his campaign to date. His donors include Rose Marie Matos Ferreira and Wander Jean Matos Ferreira, shareholders in the steelmaker Aço Cearense: Rose Marie gave R$ 600,000 and Wander Jean, R$ 400,000. The governor also received R$ 100,000 from the state PT party directorate and smaller amounts from other donors, including businesswoman Gabriella Baquit Gentil de Aguiar Lobo (R$ 35,000) and public officials tied to the state government.
The contrast with other candidates running for the Ceará governorship is stark. Huggo Leonardo of the Missão party raised R$ 6,267 through crowdfunding, with R$ 96.02 in reported expenses. Serley Leal of the Unidade Popular party declared R$ 5,625, also mostly from small individual contributions, with R$ 1,509.28 in expenses. Candidates Danilo Soares (O Democrata), Ieri Braga (PCO), Vera Lúcia (Novo) and Zé Batista (PSTU) had not yet filed public campaign finance reports at the time of the report.
What is at stake
Elmano de Freitas is running for reelection with Fortaleza's current deputy mayor, Gabriella Aguiar of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), as his running mate, while Ciro Gomes is backed by the União Progressista federation and the Liberal Party (PL), running with former Fortaleza mayor Roberto Cláudio of União Brasil as vice-governor candidate. Individual donations from people tied to major state companies, in textiles, footwear and steel, among other sectors, must be declared publicly to the TSE and can be checked by any voter on the DivulgaCandContas platform, created to bring transparency to campaign financing in Brazil.