2026 Rio Grande do Sul general election

The 2026 Rio Grande do Sul general election will be held on 4 October 2026 in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Voters will elect a Governor, Vice Governor, two Senators, 31 representatives for the Chamber of Deputies, and 55 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 Eduardo Leite of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), reelected in 2022 with 57.12% of the vote, is term-limited and ineligible to run for a third consecutive term. Incumbent senators Paulo Paim of the Workers' Party (PT) and Luis Carlos Heinze of the Progressives (PP) are completing their eight-year terms; Paim has announced he will not seek reelection, while Heinze is eligible to run.

Background

Electoral calendar

Governor

Incumbent governor Eduardo Leite (PSD) was reelected in 2022 with 57.12% of the vote, defeating Onyx Lorenzoni of the Liberal Party (PL), a former minister under President Jair Bolsonaro. Leite, who first governed the state from 2019 to 2022, resigned in March 2022 to pursue a presidential bid but returned to run for governor after failing to secure his party's nomination. Originally elected as a member of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), Leite switched to the Social Democratic Party (PSD) in 2025.

Leite governs alongside Vice Governor Gabriel Souza of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), who has been launched as the coalition's candidate to succeed Leite, maintaining the centrist alliance against opposition from the right-wing PL and the left-wing PT.

Senator

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

Paulo Paim, a former metalworker and Federal Deputy, is serving his third term in the Senate. A historic figure in the Workers' Party (PT), Paim announced in November 2024 that he would not seek a fourth term in 2026, opening a major vacancy on the left.

Luis Carlos Heinze, an agronomist, former mayor of São Borja, and former leader of the ruralist caucus in the Chamber of Deputies, was elected to the Senate in 2018 with strong support from the agricultural sector. A member of the Progressives (PP), Heinze ran for governor in 2022 but finished third; he remains eligible to run for reelection to the Senate or to contest the governorship again.

Gubernatorial candidates

Declared candidates

Governor				Previous office	Vice Governor
Party Federation		Candidate		Party Federation
style=background-color:;|	PDT		Juliana Brizola	State Deputy (2011–2023)	style=background-color:;|
style=background-color:;|	PSDB Fed. PSDB/CID		Marcelo Maranata	Mayor of Guaíba (2021–present)	style=background-color:;|
style=background-color:;|	MDB		Gabriel Souza	Vice Governor (2023–present)	style=background-color:;|
style=background-color:;|	PL		Luciano Zucco	Federal Deputy (2023–present)	style=background-color:;|

The following candidates have officially declared their candidacies with the support of their parties. Some have announced Vice-Governor candidates.

• Juliana Brizola, lawyer, former State Deputy (2011–2023) and City Councilor of Porto Alegre (2009–2011), and former candidate for Mayor of Porto Alegre in 2020 and 2024.
  • Edegar Pretto, public manager, current President of the National Supply Company (Conab) (since 2023), former State Deputy (2011–2023) and former President of the Legislative Assembly (2017–2018), and former candidate for Governor of Rio Grande do Sul in 2022.
• Marcelo Maranata, businessman, current Mayor of Guaíba (since 2021), former mayoral candidate (2012 and 2016), and former candidate for State Deputy (2018).
• Gabriel Souza, veterinarian, current Vice-Governor of Rio Grande do Sul (since 2023), former State Deputy (2015–2022), and former President of the Legislative Assembly (2021–2022).
  • Ernani Polo, farmer and politician, former Secretary of Economic Development of Rio Grande do Sul (2023-2026), State Deputy for Rio Grande do Sul (2011-present) and former Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation of Rio Grande do Sul (2015-2018).
• Luciano Zucco, lieutenant colonel, current Federal Deputy (since 2023), and former State Deputy (2019–2023).
  • Silvana Covatti, businesswoman, State Deputy for Rio Grande do Sul (2007-present), former Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development of Rio Grande do Sul (2021-2022) and former President of the Legislative Assembly of Rio Grande do Sul (2016-2017).

Expressed interest

• Luis Carlos Heinze, agronomist and farmer, current Senator (since 2019), former Federal Deputy (1999–2019), former Mayor of São Borja (1993–1996), and former candidate for Governor of Rio Grande do Sul (2022).

Declined to be a candidate or withdrew

• Paulo Pimenta, journalist and agricultural technician, former Minister of the Secretariat for Social Communication (2023-2026), former Federal Deputy (2003–2023) and State Deputy (1999–2003), and former City Councilor of Santa Maria (1989–1998).
• Onyx Lorenzoni, veterinarian, former Minister of Labor, Citizenship, and Chief of Staff (2019–2022), former Federal Deputy (2003–2023), and former candidate for Governor of Rio Grande do Sul (2022) and Mayor of Porto Alegre (2004 and 2008).
• Edegar Pretto, public manager, current President of the National Supply Company (Conab) (since 2023), former State Deputy (2011–2023) and former President of the Legislative Assembly (2017–2018), and former candidate for Governor of Rio Grande do Sul in 2022.

Senatorial candidates

Declared candidates

Senator				Previous office
Party Federation		Candidate		Party
rowspan="2" style=background-color:;|	PT FE Brasil		Paulo Pimenta	Minister of Social Communication (2023–2025)
style=background-color:;|
rowspan="2" style=background-color:;|	MDB		Germano Rigotto	Governor (2003–2006)
style=background-color:;|
rowspan="2" style=background-color:;|	PL		Ubiratan Sanderson	Federal Deputy (2019–2026)
rowspan="2" style=background-color:;|	NOVO		Marcel van Hattem	Federal Deputy (2019–2026)
rowspan="2" style=background-color:;|	PSDB Fed. PSDB/CID		Milton Cardoso	rowspan="2"
style=background-color:;|				PSDB
rowspan="2" style=background-color:;|	PSOL Fed. PSOL REDE		Manuela d'Ávila	State Deputy (2015–2019)
style=background-color:;|
rowspan="2" style=background-color:;|	PSD		Frederico Antunes	State Deputy (1999–2026)

• Frederico Antunes, agronomist, current State Deputy of Rio Grande do Sul (since 1999), former Secretary of Public Works of Rio Grande do Sul (2003–2006), and former City Councilor of Uruguaiana (1993–1999).
• Milton Cardoso, journalist and broadcaster.
• Manuela d'Ávila, journalist and writer, former State Deputy of Rio Grande do Sul (2015–2019), Federal Deputy (2007–2015), former City Councilor of Porto Alegre (2005–2007), former candidate for Mayor of Porto Alegre in 2008 and 2012, and former candidate for Vice President of Brazil in 2018.
• Cláudio Diaz, veterinarian and animal auctioneer, former Federal Deputy for Rio Grande do Sul (2007–2011) and former City Councilor of Rio Grande (2001–2006).
• Paulo Pimenta, journalist and agricultural technician, former Minister of the Secretariat for Social Communication (2023-2026), former Federal Deputy (2003–2023) and State Deputy (1999–2003), and former City Councilor of Santa Maria (1989–1998).
• Germano Rigotto, dentist and lawyer, former Governor of Rio Grande do Sul (2003–2007), former Federal Deputy for Rio Grande do Sul (1991–2003), and former State Deputy of Rio Grande do Sul (1983–1991).
• Sanderson, federal police officer, former President of the Union of Federal Police Officers of Rio Grande do Sul, and Federal Deputy for Rio Grande do Sul (since 2019).
• Marcel van Hattem, journalist and political scientist, current Federal Deputy for Rio Grande do Sul (since 2019), former State Deputy of Rio Grande do Sul (2015–2018), and former City Councilor of Dois Irmãos (2005–2009).

Declined

• Yeda Crusius, economist and politician, former Governor of Rio Grande do Sul (2007–2011), former Federal Deputy for Rio Grande do Sul (1995–2007, 2017–2019), and former Minister of Planning (1993).
• Luis Carlos Heinze, agronomist and farmer, current Senator (since 2019), former Federal Deputy (1999–2019), former Mayor of São Borja (1993–1996), and former candidate for Governor of Rio Grande do Sul (2022).
• Eduardo Leite, lawyer and politician, current Governor of Rio Grande do Sul (since 2023, 2019–2022), former Mayor of Pelotas (2013–2017), and former City Councilor of Pelotas (2009–2013).
• Paulo Paim, metalworker and politician, current Senator for Rio Grande do Sul (since 2003) and former Federal Deputy for Rio Grande do Sul (1987–2003).

Opinion polling

Governor

First round

The first round is scheduled to take place on 4 October 2026.

2026

2025

Senator

2026

References