Brazil’s right-wing Liberal Party wins largest congressional bloc

Brazil's Liberal Party won 28 Senate seats, up from 15, and 121 lower house seats, up from 98, on Oct. 5, 2026, the largest single-party bloc in both chambers. Flávio Bolsonaro finished ahead of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the presidential first round at 47% to the Workers Party's 45.2%, with a runoff on Oct. 25. All 513 lower house seats and two-thirds of the 81-seat Senate were up. A center-to-right bloc was projected near 250 lower house seats and over 30 Senate seats. The Workers Party kept 9 Senate seats; a PT-led bloc was projected at 88 lower house seats, up from 82. Flávio Bolsonaro said: "I was very happy to see how many Brazilians went to the polls to make their voices heard and didn't stay on the sidelines because they want change." Neuriberg Dias said governance would pose a major challenge for President Lula. Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after the 2022 election. Coverage says the bloc may back amnesty for him and that the Senate pro-Bolsonaro group may near the 54 votes to impeach Supreme Court justices. In April, Lula's Supreme Court nominee was voted down, the first in over a century, and Congress has overturned dozens of his vetoes since January 2023. The Oct. 25 runoff decides the presidency.