Agricultural entrepreneurs, Bolsonaro’s biggest campaign contributors

Agricultural entrepreneurs contributed the lion’s share of funding to President Jair Bolsonaro’s re-election campaign, underscoring his deep ties to the rural world.

At the same time, his socialist challenger Lula da Silva relied almost exclusively on public party funding.

Individual donors contributed nearly 80 percent of Bolsonaro’s campaign funds, and 33 of the top 50 donors had agribusiness ties, according to an analysis of electoral high court (TSE) data.

None of da Silva’s top individual campaign donors have clear ties to agribusiness, underscoring his difficulty reconnecting with the agricultural sector.

Farmers’ and ranchers’ preference for Bolsonaro stems from several factors, from conservative social views of rural Brazil to his defense of landowners’ gun rights.

Thanks to a wave of conservative thinking, Brazil’s agrarian faction increased its share in Congress in this month’s legislative elections.

In contrast, da Silva and his Workers’ Party (PT, left) have ties to the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) that have fueled tensions with farmers.

For example, 97 percent of da Silva’s 126.8 million reais (23 million dollars) in campaign funds came from his party’s public financing, based on the number of representatives in the lower house of Congress.

This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error