Over 20,500 file for candidacy ahead of general elections this year

Brazil's Superior Electoral Court has received over 20,500 applications for candidate registration ahead of the upcoming general elections, marking an 8,732 decrease compared to 2022. Of the total applications, 65% are from men and 35% from women. Most of the candidates, 11,103, aim for the position of state representative, followed by requests for federal representative (7,636), district representative (420), governor (196), senator (315), and president (13).

Gender-wise, 99.07% of the candidates identified as cisgender, 0.9% as transgender, and 0.03% did not disclose. Age-wise, the majority of candidates fall within the 45-49 age group, with 3,538 applications, followed by those aged 50-54 (3,176), 40-44 (2,986), and 55-59 (2,581).

In terms of race and ethnicity, 48.77% of the applicants identified as white, 36.13% as pardo, 13.64% as black, 0.93% as indigenous, and 0.53% as Asian. Education-wise, 58.57% of the candidates had completed higher education, while 21.41% had finished high school, 10.58% had not completed higher education, 3.56% had not finished high school, and 2.94% had not completed elementary school.

Business owners constitute the largest group among the applicants, with 2,576 candidates. Other prominent occupations include lawyers (1,691), state representatives (874), city council members (811), military police officers (569), doctors (558), and state civil servants (541).