The main candidates in Brazil's 2026 presidential race have declared R$ 74 million in campaign spending so far. The figures come from DivulgaCand, the disclosure platform of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Brazil's top election authority, and were compiled by news site g1. Wednesday (Sep 9) opened the window for candidates, parties, federations and coalitions to file the mandatory interim campaign finance report.
Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) accounts for the largest share: R$ 49 million. Ronaldo Caiado (PSD) follows with R$ 20 million, and Romeu Zema (Novo) with R$ 2 million. At the other end, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), who is running for reelection, declared R$ 100,000. Writer and psychiatrist Augusto Cury (Avante) reported R$ 55,000. The newspaper Estadão reached the same result in its own tally: Flávio Bolsonaro spends nearly R$ 50 million and tops the list of presidential hopefuls.
Where the money went
According to g1, Flávio Bolsonaro's single largest expense, R$ 13.1 million, covered strategic planning and political marketing. The senator paid R$ 5 million to video producer Paranoá Digital, booked as "digital planning services", and spent R$ 3.7 million on a YouTube channel that broadcasts 24 hours a day about his candidacy. A R$ 500,000 payment to fintech DLocal buys credits to boost posts on Facebook and Instagram; the campaign told g1 that the company is Meta's "payment hub".
The filing also shows R$ 3.6 million to Algoritmo Dados Estratégia e Comunicação, a press advisory firm founded by Fábio Portela, former communications secretary to São Paulo mayor Ricardo Nunes, plus R$ 3.4 million to a second communications consultancy. Legal services cost R$ 3.1 million, paid to the law office of Maria Claudia Bucchianeri, the campaign's legal head and a former TSE justice. Aircraft chartering took R$ 2.2 million, paid to Alljet Aviation.
Caiado declared R$ 20.9 million, of which R$ 20 million went to a single digital marketing company. Lula put nearly all of his declared spending into printed material: R$ 93,900 to Amazon Etiquetas in three payments on Aug 26, plus R$ 6,100 in crowdfunding administration fees. Cury spent R$ 50,000 on social media boosting through Ebanx; g1 reported he has directed R$ 116,000 to boosting since the start of the year. His filing even lists R$ 958 for snacks at campaign planning meetings.
What happens next
The interim report covers all financial activity from the start of the campaign on Aug 16 through Sep 8, and is filed through Conta+JE, the electoral court system that centralizes campaign accounts. According to regional electoral courts, the filing deadline is Sunday, Sep 13. The first round of the election is on Oct 4.