As the October 2026 presidential election approaches, Brazil’s evangelical churches are getting ready. This religious bloc, now a key political force, is reorganizing itself, identifying its kingmakers, selecting its future candidates, and preparing to regain political power.
We investigate how evangelical churches, long confined to the religious sphere, have become a structured political force in just a few decades. Opposed to LGBT+ rights, abortion, sex education, and gender policies, these churches advocate for a conservative vision of society based on moral order, the heterosexual family, and the fight against what they call “progressivism” or “cultural Marxism.” This ideological framework now extends beyond the purely religious sphere and manifests as a structured political strategy, combining voter discipline, media power, and economic influence.
The defeat of Bolsonaro and his ineligibility to stand again did not mark the end of the project but a moment of realignment. We see how Evangelicals are turning electoral defeat into a driving force: how they preserve the unity of a heterogeneous electorate, and above all, how they identify the new faces capable of embodying this force in 2026.
At the heart of this landscape, one figure stands out: Pastor Silas Malafaia, an unapologetic kingmaker, omnipresent in the media and on the campaign trail, who embodies the intersection of faith, money, and power. Gravitating around him are elected officials, influential pastors, and strategists from the Evangelical Parliamentary Front, which has become a key player in Congress. And investigation into their methods — voting directives, digital mobilization, the flow of funds, tactical alliances, and culture wars.