Carlos Bolsonaro Confirms Santa Catarina Senate Bid, Backs Carol De Toni

Overview

• Carlos Bolsonaro said on X that he will run for the Senate in Santa Catarina and named himself and Caroline de Toni as Jair Bolsonaro’s preferred pre-candidates.
• De Toni is negotiating a move to Novo to preserve her Senate run after being sidelined in PL’s internal arrangements, with Novo’s president confirming the invitation and Gilson Marques prepared to step aside.
• Eduardo Bolsonaro publicly defended Carlos’s bid and criticized efforts to pit De Toni against his brother, framing the intraparty fight as harmful to the right.
• Governor Jorginho Mello favors Esperidião Amin’s re-election to secure PP-linked TV time, a stance that clashes with the Bolsonaro family’s plan and exposes a rift in the state coalition.
• Carlos plans to leave his Rio council seat and relocate to Santa Catarina in December; a September Real Time Big Data poll showed him leading the Senate race, with the state a strong Bolsonaro stronghold in 2022.