Michelle Bolsonaro, the former first lady of Brazil, is framing her Senate campaign around a narrative of modest beginnings and public service. In a campaign jingle, she recounted selling oranges at a traffic light in Ceilândia, a satellite city about 30 km from Brasília’s centre, when she was ten years old.
She described a lifetime of varied work: volunteering at her church, selling shoes at the Ceilândia market, working in supermarkets, serving as a secretary, becoming a businesswoman and leading the PL’s women’s wing.
"Whoever saw me as first lady might not imagine what my first job was. At ten, I was an orange‑seller at a traffic light in Ceilândia," she said.
Michelle Bolsonaro confirmed her candidacy after initially expressing doubts following disagreements with her stepchildren. She said she discussed the race with her husband, former president Jair Bolsonaro, and decided to proceed.
Her campaign also stresses the need to elect allies to the Senate to balance powers and address the imprisonment of Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest related to the January 8 events.
"We have Jair Messias Bolsonaro detained at home, we have the people of 8 January, and we will work to restore legal normality in this country. We need to balance the Powers and for that we must elect senators," she asserted.
Mandatory radio and TV electoral inserts began on Friday, 28 August, with the first blocks of advertising for senatorial, state, district and gubernatorial candidates. Presidential and federal deputy ads are set to air on Saturday, 29 August.