Anti-bets campaign failed to convert into votes in Brazil’s first round

In several major Brazilian states, candidates who made the ban on online betting their main campaign plank finished either behind or outright defeated. The immediate market takeaway for PSPs is simple: political rhetoric against betting can travel fast in an election cycle, but it does not automatically turn into an electoral mandate.

1. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) signed MP nº 1.394/2026 on September 25, nine days before the vote, making online betting illegal. The measure quickly became a late-campaign talking point and was adopted by gubernatorial candidates in multiple states.
2. In Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes (PSD) built his campaign around a promise to shut down Loterj and accused the previous administration of turning the state into a “betting paradise.” Yet the result went the other way: Douglas Ruas (PL) led with 49.27% of valid votes to Paes’s 42.76%, according to the TSE. After the TSE on October 8 upheld the disqualification of Anthony Garotinho (Republicanos) and annulled his 274,411 votes, the TRE-RJ recount on Saturday (10) pushed Ruas to 50.88% and Paes to 44.16%. The regional court is scheduled to proclaim the final result on October 15.
3. The pattern repeated elsewhere. In Minas Gerais, Patrus Ananias (PT) described the ban as “a new beginning” for families and finished with about 26% of valid votes, while Mateus Simões (PSD), who banned betting ads in stadiums and announced R$ 32 million for clubs, got less than 5%. The first-round winner was Cleitinho Azevedo (Republicanos), with about 55%; he is a longtime critic of betting, but kept the issue out of his campaign.
4. In the South, Juliana Brizola (PDT) posted a video in support of the measure and got about 32% in Rio Grande do Sul. Marcelo Maranata (PSDB), who also used the issue, finished below 2%. Luciano Zucco (PL) won with about 58% after calling the MP “a clear act of electoral desperation.” In Paraná, Requião Filho (PDT) was the only candidate to insert betting into the campaign and lost to Sergio Moro (PL), who won with 50.10%.
5. Elsewhere, the bets issue did not produce a winning coalition either. In Pernambuco, João Campos (PSB) held a sign reading “end the bets” next to Lula and ended with 44.81%. In Ceará, Ciro Gomes (PSDB), who backed the ban, got 46.52%. In Bahia, Juliana Prates (Republicanos) made the anti-bets line the center of her Instagram campaign and received only 3,493 votes.

One detail matters for payment operators reading this from the other side of the table: Loterj says 70% of its resources go to social projects, including shelters for women survivors of domestic violence. So in practice, the debate is not just about betting licenses; it is also about which state-run revenue streams and beneficiary programs get caught in the crossfire when politicians turn gambling into a campaign weapon.