Brazil’s Oct. 4 presidential election is set to pit two men against each other. Far-right Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro is challenging leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with both expected to advance to a runoff. But a woman may play a key role in that contest: former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, Flávio’s stepmother and the third wife of his father, convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro.

According to opinion polls, more Brazilian women prefer Lula over Flávio. Michelle’s influence could change that—and set an example for how far-right groups can attract women worldwide.

Brazil’s Oct. 4 presidential election is set to pit two men against each other. Far-right Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro is challenging leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with both expected to advance to a runoff. But a woman may play a key role in that contest: former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, Flávio’s stepmother and the third wife of his father, convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro.

According to opinion polls, more Brazilian women prefer Lula over Flávio. Michelle’s influence could change that—and set an example for how far-right groups can attract women worldwide.

The Bolsonaro movement has spent years trying to strengthen its support among women, largely through Michelle. After Jair lost the 2022 election, his Liberal Party (PL) put Michelle in charge of its women’s organization, PL Mulher. She traveled across Brazil, recruiting new members and encouraging conservative women to enter politics. Bolsonaristas cast her as an ideal: devoted to her husband; guided by God; and, in Michelle’s own words, “feminine, not feminist.”

Michelle’s push far outpaced similar efforts on the left: According to PL Mulher, more than  72,000 women joined the group during her tenure, which ended in June. Between March 2023 and July 2024 alone, the PL added 51,263 female members—more than twice the number added by Lula’s Workers’ Party over the same period. During the 2024 municipal elections, 995 women backed by PL Mulher were elected. Michelle is now running  for a Senate seat in Brasília and could eventually compete with Flávio over the Bolsonaro inheritance.

As Michelle’s network of........

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