2026 Minas Gerais general election

The 2026 Minas Gerais general election will be held in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, on Sunday 4 October 2026. Voters will elect a Governor, Vice Governor, two Senators, 53 representatives for the Chamber of Deputies, and 77 Legislative Assembly members. If no candidate for president or governor receives a majority of the valid votes in the first round, a runoff election is held on 25 October.

Incumbent governor Romeu Zema of the New Party (NOVO), reelected in 2022 with 56.18% of the vote in the first round, is term-limited and ineligible to run for a third consecutive term. Incumbent senators Rodrigo Pacheco of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Carlos Viana of Podemos (PODE) are completing their eight-year terms and are eligible to run for reelection or other offices.

Background

Electoral calendar

Electoral calendar

15 May

20 July to 5 August

16 August to 1 October

4 October

9 October to 23 October

25 October

until 19 December

Governor

Incumbent governor Romeu Zema was reelected in the first round of the 2022 election with 56.18% of the vote, defeating Alexandre Kalil of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). Zema, a businessman who was originally elected in 2018 as a political outsider, solidified his administration's liberal economic agenda during his first term. Because he served a full term and was subsequently reelected in 2022, he is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive period in executive office.

Zema governs alongside Vice Governor Mateus Simões, elected on the New Party (NOVO) ticket in 2022. In a strategic move to broaden the coalition for the 2026 succession, Simões affiliated with the Social Democratic Party (PSD) in late 2025. Unlike the friction seen in other states, this switch was publicly endorsed by Zema, positioning Simões as the continuity candidate in an alliance between the governor's group and the powerful political machine led by Gilberto Kassab.

Senator

Senators in Brazil serve an 8-year term, meaning the incumbents were elected in 2018.

Rodrigo Pacheco, a lawyer and former Federal Deputy, was elected to the Senate in 2018 as a member of the Democrats (DEM). He later joined the PSD and served as President of the Federal Senate (2021–2025), raising his profile to a national level. He is eligible for reelection.

Carlos Viana, a journalist and former TV presenter, holds the second Senate seat. He was elected in 2018 via the Humanist Party of Solidarity (PHS), as the candidate of the popular Belo Horizonte mayor Alexandre Kalil, but has since changed parties multiple times, including stints in the PSD, MDB, and PL. In 2022, he ran for Governor of Minas Gerais with the support of Jair Bolsonaro but finished a distant third. Currently affiliated with Podemos (PODE), he is eligible to run for a second term in the Senate.

Gubernatorial candidates

Declared candidates

  • Mateus Simões, lawyer and professor, current Vice-Governor of Minas Gerais (since 2023), former Secretary-General of the State (2020–2022), and former City Councilor of Belo Horizonte (2017–2020).
  • Alexandre Kalil, businessman and sports executive, former Mayor of Belo Horizonte (2017–2022), and candidate for Governor of Minas Gerais in 2022.
  • Cleitinho Azevedo, gospel musician and businessman, current Senator for Minas Gerais (since 2023), former State Deputy (2019–2023), and former City Councilor of Divinópolis (2017–2019).

Expressed interest

  • Rodrigo Pacheco, lawyer, current President of the Federal Senate (since 2021) and Senator (since 2019), former Federal Deputy (2015–2019), and candidate for Mayor of Belo Horizonte in 2016.
  • Tadeuzinho, lawyer, current President of the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais (since 2023) and State Deputy (since 2011), former Secretary of State for Regional Development (2015–2016).

Speculated by the media

  • Alexandre Silveira, police chief, current Minister of Mines and Energy (since 2023) under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former Senator (2022–2023), and former Federal Deputy (2007–2015).
  • Aécio Neves, economist, current Federal Deputy (since 2019), current President of Brazilian Social Democracy Party, former Senator (2011–2019), former Governor of Minas Gerais (2003–2010), former President of the Chamber of Deputies (2001–2002), and candidate for President of Brazil in 2014.

Declined or withdrew

  • Marília Campos, psychologist, current Mayor of Contagem (since 2021), former State Deputy (2011–2020), and former Mayor of Contagem (2005–2012).
  • Nikolas Ferreira, lawyer, current Federal Deputy (since 2023), former City Councilor of Belo Horizonte (2021–2023).

Senatorial candidates

Declared candidates

Possible candidates

Declined or withdrew

Opinion polling

First round

The first round is scheduled for 4 October 2026, with a second round (if necessary) on 25 October 2026.

Pollster/client(s)

Date(s)
conducted

Sample
size

Cleitinho

Pacheco

Ferreira

Kalil

Simões

Neves

Silveira

Azevedo

Others

Blank/
undec.

Lead

Genial/Quaest

13–17 Aug 2025

1,482

28%

9%

–

16%

4%

–

–

–

–

43%

12%

AtlasIntel

20–25 Aug 2025

2,035

14.1%

32.8%

30.1%

8.3%

5.3%

3.5%

–

–

2.3%

3.5%

2.7%

39.6%

–

–

9.4%

8.0%

6.7%

13.6%

–

14.9%

7.9%

26.0%

41.4%

44.5%

–

–

9.9%

–

–

–

1.5%

2.7%

3.1%

Real Time Big Data

8–9 Dec 2025

1,500

38%

–

–

18%

9%

–

–

4%

–

31%

20%

F5 Atualiza Dados

8–10 Dec 2025

1,560

25%

4%

–

5%

3%

7%

–

4%

4%

47%

18%

Second round

Second-round simulations (where available):

Pollster/client(s)

Date(s)
conducted

Sample
size

Cleitinho

Pacheco

Ferreira

Kalil

Silveira

Simões

Blank/
undec.

Lead

AtlasIntel

20–25 Aug 2025

2,035

–

48%

49%

–

–

–

–

1%

50%

46%

–

–

–

–

–

4%

–

46%

–

–

–

27%

–

19%

49%

–

–

28%

–

–

–

21%

51%

–

–

–

26%

–

–

25%

Senator

References

Minas Gerais 2026