Bolsonaro banned from running for office

The News

Brazil's electoral court voted to ban Jair Bolsonaro from running for public office for eight years — what amounts to two presidential terms — for making false claims about the country's voting systems.

We’ve curated insights and analysis on what the electoral court’s vote could lead to next.

Insights

• While the ruling represents a major setback and possible end to Bolsonaro’s political career, other members of his family may run for office in place of the 68-year-old. Although a political newcomer, his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, heads the women’s movement of her husband’s conservative Liberal Party and has suggested that she could become a “legislative candidate” if she desires. Bolsonaro’s two sons from his former marriage — both federal lawmakers and controversial figures — may also toy with presidential ambitions.

• But Bolsonaro’s legacy may also be continued by current governors seeking election in the next presidential cycle. They include Tarcísio de Freitas, the governor of São Paulo state, or Romeu Zema, the governor of Minas Gerais. But de Freitas lacks Bolsonaro's "common touch," while Zema is not nationally recognized. —

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Four out of seven of the panel of judges voted that the former president abused his authority by using official channels to promote his campaign during the 2022 elections, including telling foreign ambassadors that the country’s electoral system was vulnerable to fraud.

Bolosanaro, often dubbed the "Trump of the Tropics," also faces multiple other criminal and electoral charges which could see him land in jail.