Partial campaign finance filings with Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) show that the largest individual donors to the campaigns of Lula (PT) and Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) are businessmen tied to agribusiness. The figures come from the court's DivulgaCand disclosure system, consulted by Poder360 on October 22, and may still change: campaigns that advanced to the runoff have until November 14 to complete their filings, according to a survey by g1.
As of that date, Lula had raised R$ 127.2 million, of which R$ 87.6 million up to the first round and R$ 39.6 million afterward. Flávio Bolsonaro had raised R$ 105.8 million, with R$ 68.7 million through October 4 and R$ 37.1 million since. Most of the money comes from the parties themselves: the PT transferred R$ 124.1 million to Lula, almost all of it from the Fundo Eleitoral, a public campaign fund financed by taxpayers, while the PL sent R$ 68.1 million to the senator, combining public funds and other donations.
Lula's top individual donor is Erasmo Carlos Battistella, CEO of biodiesel producer Be8, who gave R$ 500,000 to the PT campaign. Battistella sits on the government's Economic and Social Sustainable Development Council, an advisory body known as the Conselhão, and donated the same R$ 500,000 to Flávio Bolsonaro.
Four of Flávio's ten biggest donors are in agribusiness
The largest individual donor to the PL campaign is Eloi Vitório Marchett, a soybean and cattle businessman who transferred R$ 2 million in two payments of R$ 1 million. Next come farmer and cattle rancher Wilson Francisco Rotta, with R$ 1.8 million, and Nelson José Vigolo, owner of the Bom Jesus Agropecuária group, with R$ 1.1 million. According to Poder360, four of Flávio's ten largest individual donors are linked to agribusiness. Alexandre Grendene Bartelle, co-founder of footwear maker Grendene, donated R$ 1 million.
Brazilian law bans corporate donations to campaigns; contributions from individuals are allowed within legal limits. Financial donations must be reported to the electoral court within 72 hours of receipt, and the DivulgaCand system is updated hourly, according to Poder360.
A sector worth 25% of GDP
Agribusiness accounts for roughly 25% of Brazilian GDP and spans demands from farm production to exports, g1 notes. In his government plan, Lula promises to strengthen rural credit through the Plano Safra crop plan and the Pronaf smallholder credit program, expand rural insurance, create a climate resilience program for the countryside and invest in biofuels such as biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel. Flávio proposes expanding rural internet access, simplifying irrigation permits, developing irrigation hubs in the Matopiba region and the semi-arid Northeast and speeding up land titles for small properties.
For farmers, the donation flow shows the sector has direct access to both finalists no matter who wins on Sunday (25). For consumers, the outcome matters because the promises on the table, from credit and irrigation to fertilizers and biofuels, bear on production costs that reach, at the end of the supply chain, the price of food and fuel.