Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of jailed former President Jair Bolsonaro, announced this weekend that he would run for president in the 2026 election – but would step down from the campaign should his father be freed and allowed to run for a second term.
The younger Bolsonaro confirmed on social media on Friday that he would run for president with his father’s blessing, ending a period of uncertainty for Brazilian conservatives given multiple prominent potential candidates, including Flavio’s stepmother Michelle Bolsonaro and the conservative Governor Tarcísio de Freitas of Sao Paulo. Senator Bolsonaro asserted that he had discussed the presidential election with his father and that the former president had chosen his eldest child as a candidate.
On Sunday, speaking to reporters, Senator Bolsonaro suggested that he could withdraw from the presidential race if his father was both freed from prison and allowed to run for president.
At press time, Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year prison sentence and banned from running for office for 35 years on dubious charges of “crimes against democracy;” the 70-year-old will be allowed to run again at age 105.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks to the press next to his son Senator Flavio Bolsonaro at the Federal Senate in Brasilia on July 17, 2025. (MATEUS BONOMI/AFP via Getty)
The current frontrunner in Brazil’s 2026 presidential election is incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a radical Marxist who has openly celebrated the persecution of Jair Bolsonaro and his conservative supporters. Lula is 80 years old and running for a fourth term in office.
Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who has represented Rio de Janeiro in the Senate since 2019 and previously served as deputy (representative in the lower house) since 2003, explained in a message on Twitter that he would carry on his father’s political legacy, promoting a platform in concert with the elder Bolsonaro’s ideology.
“I cannot, and will not, resign myself to watching our country walk through a time of instability, insecurity, and discouragement. I will not stand idly by while I see the hope of families being extinguished and our democracy succumbing,” Senator Bolsonaro wrote. “Our country is living through difficult days in which many feel abandoned, retirees are robbed by their own government, narco-terrorists dominate cities and exploit workers, state-owned companies have returned to being plundered, new taxes never stop being created or increased, our children have no expectations for the future. No one can take it anymore!”
“I believe that no captivity is greater than God’s power to set free,” he concluded. “I place myself before God and before Brazil to fulfill this mission. And I know that He will go ahead, opening doors, tearing down walls, and guiding every step of this journey.”
In remarks to the outlet TV Record on Sunday, Flavio Bolsonaro asserted that there is “no turning back” on his presidential campaign, but that, should his father be freed and allowed to run, he would not continue his campaign. Asked what price would have to be paid to end his campaign, the senator said, “[Jair] Bolsonaro, free and on the ballot.”
“The price is justice for almost 60 million Brazilians who were taken hostage, are held captive in this moment, alongside Jair Messias Bolsonaro,” he said, referring to the voters who supported his father in the extremely close 2022 presidential election. The senator also called for amnesty for those arrested in relation to the January 8, 2023, riot in Brasilia, in which supporters of the conservative former president destroyed property and broke into the headquarters of the Congress, presidency, and Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), the top court.
The court case that landed Jair Bolsonaro a 27-year prison sentence is related to the events of January 8. He was found guilty of a host of crimes, including “attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état, participation in an armed criminal organization, aggravated damage, and deterioration of listed heritage sites” in relation to the riot, despite being in the United States at the time and playing no role in them. The STF leadership accused Bolsonaro of leading a plot to oust Lula through a coup, offering little evidence. STF justices have also repeatedly rejected Jair Bolsonaro’s calls for house arrest in light of his complicated health status: he is currently fighting skin cancer and has struggled with serious digestive malfunction as a result of a socialist attempting to stab him to death during the 2018 presidential campaign, which he own. Bolsonaro most recently endured a 12-hour emergency surgery in May to address an urgent complication from the 2018 stabbing.
Flavio Bolsonaro also addressed the seemingly crowded conservative lane in the election on Sunday. He described Tarcísio, the Sao Paulo government, as the “first person I wanted to talk to” before launching his bid. The governor, he claimed, was supportive and offered a “very good” reaction. As for his stepmother, Michelle Bolsonaro, she publicly congratulated Flavio on launching his run.
“God bless you, [Flavio], on this new mission for our beloved Brazil,” the former first lady wrote in a message on Instagram. “May the Lord give you wisdom, strength, and grace in every step, and that His hand guide your path towards the good of our nation.”
Both Michelle and Flavio Bolsonaro have scheduled visits with the former president in prison on Tuesday. Flavio is expected to meet with prominent conservative leaders to unify the right wing on Monday.
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