First 2026 Presidential Debate Goes Ahead With Only Three Candidates Present

Overview

• Organizers Grupo Bandeirantes and Estadão held the debate on Sunday, August 23, with only Ronaldo Caiado, Renan Santos and Augusto Cury taking the stage after Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro declined to attend and Romeu Zema withdrew.
• Renan used theatrical protest tactics including bringing diapers to the studio and repeatedly attacked the absent frontrunners, while Caiado and Cury focused on competing plans for security, work rules, foreign policy, education and the economy.
• The candidates' choice to skip or withdraw reflected tactical calculations shaped by recent Datafolha polling that shows Lula leading with 39% and Flávio at 33% and a modeled second‑round gap of 47%–43%, which campaigns said factors into debate risk management.
• Tribunal Superior Eleitoral rulings also shaped the line‑up: the TSE temporarily barred Pablo Marçal from debates while it reviews his registration, removing another potential participant and concentrating exposure on the three present.
• The debate amplified questions about campaign openness and accountability, gave lesser‑known candidates rare national reach, and could affect short‑term voter perception and second‑round vote transfers as campaigns adjust strategy.