Cleitinho Azevedo has taken the lead in the race for governor of Minas Gerais with 38 per cent of first round voter intentions, according to a survey released on Monday by polling institute Real Time Big Data.
Patrus Ananias of the Workers' Party, known as PT, placed second with 20 per cent of voter support, trailing Azevedo by 18 percentage points.
Alexandre Kalil of the Democratic Labour Party, or PDT, ranked third with 9 per cent. Mateus Simões of the Social Democratic Party, or PSD, and Flávio Roscoe of the Liberal Party, or PL, stood level at 8 per cent each.
Gabriel of the Brazilian Democratic Movement, or MDB, registered 5 per cent, while Ben Mendes of Missão received 2 per cent. Indira Xavier of Popular Unity, or UP, stood at 1 per cent, matching the 1 per cent recorded for other unnamed candidates.
A further three contenders, Professor Túlio Lopes of the Brazilian Communist Party, Rafael Duda of the Unified Socialist Workers' Party, and Henrique Áreas of the Cause of the Workers' Party, received a combined total of 1 per cent. Blank and spoiled ballots accounted for 4 per cent of responses, while another 4 per cent of voters said they were undecided or did not answer.
Gubernatorial race dynamics
Minas Gerais is Brazil's second most populous state and an influential electoral territory in national politics. Under Brazilian election rules, a gubernatorial candidate must win an outright majority of more than 50 per cent of valid votes in the first round to avoid a second round runoff against the runner-up.
Survey methodology and registration
The survey interviewed 2,000 voters between September 23 and September 26, 2026. Real Time Big Data reported a margin of error of two percentage points plus or minus, alongside a 95 per cent confidence level.
The polling firm financed the study with its own funds and registered the research with Brazil's Superior Electoral Court under protocol number MG-03351/2026.
