Nearly three in ten candidacy registrations for Brazil's 2026 general elections belong to people who have not run in any race since 1994. Of the 20,608 registrations filed this year, 5,587 are ballot first-timers, or 27.1%, according to an analysis by news portal G1 based on data from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), the body that oversees Brazilian elections. The remaining 15,021 registrations (72.9%) come from people who had already contested at least one election in the period.
The analysis classifies as first-timers the candidates who do not appear in previous general or municipal elections in the TSE databases reviewed, covering 1994 to 2024. For the 1994 and 1996 files, which lack usable taxpayer or voter ID numbers, the cross-check also used names and birth dates. The criterion only measures the absence of past candidacies: these people may have held non-elected office or party roles, or run before 1994.
Legislative races draw 92.5% of first-timers
More than nine in ten first-timers are running for a legislative seat. Races for state, federal and district deputy account for 5,169 registrations with no previous candidacy on record, or 92.5% of the group. In absolute terms, state deputy races lead, with 2,923 first-timers among 11,139 candidates (26.2%). Proportionally, the highest share is in the race for district deputy, a seat in the Federal District's local legislature, where 54% of the 426 candidates had never run before. At the other end, the vice presidency has the lowest share of newcomers, with only one of 13 registrations (7.7%), followed by senator (14.3%) and governor (17.3%). Among the 13 presidential candidates, three (23.1%) are running for the first time.
Among parties, the highest shares of first-timers appear in the newest organizations. Missão, a party registered by the TSE in November 2025 and contesting its first national election, has 77.4% first-time candidates; UP has 62.2%. The lowest rates are in the PT of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (17.1%), PP (17.7%), PL (19.1%) and União Brasil (19.5%). For Luciana Santana, a political science professor at the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), the low presence of newcomers is tied to how parties choose their candidates.
"Party leaderships end up preserving some candidacies for figures who have already held office, have public visibility, broader political networks and the capacity to secure funding," Santana told G1.
First-time share is higher among women
Of the 7,214 female candidacies, 2,637 are first-timers, or 36.6%; among men, there are 3,325 newcomers out of 13,468 candidates, or 24.7%. Women account for 34.9% of all 2026 candidates but make up 44.2% of the group that had not contested an election since 1994. For Hannah Maruci, a political scientist at the University of São Paulo (USP), the higher rate among women may be linked to the historical barriers that hindered the building of female electoral careers.
"When women reach the race, we are looking at the end of a trajectory of underrepresentation and barriers that began much earlier, including in defining who is considered a viable name to occupy positions of power," Maruci said.
By state, São Paulo has the largest absolute number of first-timers: 678, or 26.2% of its 2,590 registrations, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 594 and Minas Gerais with 450. Proportionally, the Federal District ranks first: 51.5% of its candidates had not run since 1994. The lowest shares are in Mato Grosso do Sul (21.2%) and Rio Grande do Sul (21.9%).