Brazilian political parties together saved around 190 million reais thanks to the party fund transferred by the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) and donations received throughout this year to increase the money intended to finance campaigns in 2026, when elections for president, governors, senators, federal and state deputies will take place throughout the country.
The majority of this stored value comes from the party fund, public money that is distributed as follows to the parties: 95% based on the size of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 5% equally among parties that have reached the performance clause, such as having at least 11 deputies in nine different states — 10 parties are not eligible to receive the resources.
This year, the total value of the fund to cover party activities, such as expenses related to salaries, rent and plane tickets, was 1.2 billion reais. For next year, in addition to the party fund, parties will also have an additional 4.9 billion reais from the Special Campaign Finance Fund (FEFC), known as fundão or electoral fund, intended exclusively to finance campaigns.
Despite the high numbers allocated to the elections, at least six parties (see below) they arrived in December with at least 10 million reais in “reserve” cash for the election year. The values were recorded by Metropolises on the TSE annual financial statements page and updated until the middle of this month and, therefore, may undergo changes — only União Brasil data is incomplete on the portal.
The parties that “saved” the most in 2025
- PL- 87.3 million reais
- Republicans – 45.4 million reais
- PP — 34.2 million reais
- PDT – 21.2 million reais
- PSD — 12.2 million reais
- Before – 11.6 million reais
PL turbine box with foundation fund
Owner of the largest share of partisan and electoral funds, the PL, the party of former President Jair Bolsonaro, has so far “saved” for the electoral year the equivalent of almost half of the R$190.4 million transferred by the TSE until the end of November this year.
In total, the company controlled by Valdemar Costa Neto totals BRL 262.1 million in revenue and BRL 174.8 million in expenses, accumulating a surplus of BRL 87.3 million.
A significant part of this balance is the result of the return of money that the party is required by law to transfer to its political training foundation, the Álvaro Valle Institute.
Since 2013, a change in the law has opened a loophole allowing “possible surpluses” from foundation accounts to be used for other party activities, including political advertising and electoral campaigns.
In the case of the PL foundation, the “surplus” represents 75% of the total transferred by the party. In January this year, the Bolsonarista party increased its treasury with 37.2 million reais that had not been spent by the institute last year.
Second in the ranking of leftovers from the party fund, the Republicans received R$88.1 million from the TSE and also earned R$10 million with income from financial investments made in previous years, but only spent R$53.6 million until December.
The PP of Senator Ciro Nogueira (PI) has so far recorded as total expenses less than half of the BRL 55.3 million received from the party’s share of the fund and investment income.
Facing the right-wing parties, the PT, which holds the second largest share of the party fund, with R$126 million transferred by the TSE until November, arrives at the end of 2025 with a deficit of R$1 million in its accounts and will have no surplus for the elections.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (PT) party has spent R$152.5 million so far, having collected R$151.5 million, including the party fund and donations.
What the law says
- The 1995 Political Parties Act provides that party fund resources – unlike the electoral fund which must go to the National Treasury – can be kept in an account for the following year.
- In addition to public funds allocated to parties, private donations to parties may also be earmarked for election expenses in the following year.
- Resources are accessible to parties who overcome the barrier clause. That is to say, parties which obtained 2% of the valid votes nationally (with at least 1% of the votes in nine different states) or which elected at least 11 federal deputies, in nine states of the country.
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