Brazil elections 2022: Evangelical candidates increase by 26% in Brazil to a record number

Brazil saw a record number of candidates using evangelical denominations, a group that grew by 26% compared to 2018. In the 2022 elections, 520 of the names on the ballot will be associated with the evangelical church, for example, among pastors, brothers, and ministers, according to a survey by Poder360.

In 10 years, the number of candidates with these titles has increased by 128%.

The PTB, with 47 deputies, is the party with the most candidates whose names are associated with the evangelical church. The acronym opened a lead over the Republicans, who added 40. 26 acronyms in total have named candidates with evangelical functions.

The data is incomplete and comes from the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) Open Data Portal. The deadline for filing candidacies was 7 p.m. on Monday (Aug. 15). It is possible that the TSE will publish new data after processing the information about the last candidacies to be registered.

See how many candidates with Protestant denomination each party has registered:

• PTB (Brazilian Workers Party): 47
• Republicans: 40
• Patriots: 32
• DC (Christian Democracy): 31
• PL (Liberal Party): 31
• PSC (Christian Social Party): 31
• PP (Progressive Party): 27
• PRTB (Brazilian Labor Renewal Party): 27
• PMN (Party of National Mobilization): 26
• União Brasil: 26
• Avante: 24
• PMB (Brazilian Party of Women): 24
• Agir 36: 22
• MDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement): 20
• SD (Solidarity): 19
• Pro (Republican Party of Social Order): 18
• PSD (Social Democratic Party): 16
• Podemos (Podemos): 15
• PDT (Democratic Workers’ Party): 11
• PSDB (Party of Brazilian Social Democracy): 11
• Citizenship: 9
• PSB (Brazilian Socialist Party): 5
• PSOL (Party for Socialism and Freedom): 2
• PT (Workers’ Party): 2
• PV (Green Party): 2
• Speech (net): 2

Compare candidacies with evangelical titles since 2002:

2002: 228
2006: 244
2010: 256
2014: 359
2018: 413
2022: 520

The Evangelical Parliamentary Front of the National Congress has 183 signatories, including 19 deputies who are not in office and 9 senators.

After the 2018 elections, a survey conducted by Diap (Interdisciplinary Department for Parliamentary Consultation) also showed that the evangelical faction in the House of Representatives gained 9 deputies compared to the previous elections and now has 84 deputies. In the Senate, the number increased from 3 to 7.

Evangelicals have been a mainstay of President Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) campaign, one of the most important support groups since his election to the presidency in 2018, and the chief executive has prioritized the religious group in his re-election platform.

From the launch of his pre-election campaign on March 27 until last Friday (Aug. 12), the president participated in 34 events organized by the group.

The PoderData poll, conducted July 31-Aug. 2, shows Bolsonaro receiving 62% of the presidential vote among evangelicals.

The index increased by 18% in 15 days compared to the previous round. Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) obtained the preference of 22% of the group, compared to 35%.

With information from Poder360