San Francisco Frontiers - Flavio Bolsonaro: political heir in his father's shadow

The 45-year-old senator was little known nationally before his jailed father anointed him as his political heir, and he had never expressed ambition to follow in his footsteps.

Despite a campaign marred by scandal and a corruption investigation, the Bolsonaro name helped propel him into a statistical dead heat with leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in polls before the October 4 election.

In interviews, Flavio Bolsonaro describes himself as a "more moderate Bolsonaro," but says his father will always be "my compass, my point of reference."

"I know I look like him. But it's hard to compare Pele's son to Pele," he said at a Rio de Janeiro rally.

While Jair Bolsonaro's incendiary style is controversial, it fired up the right and helped him go from fringe lawmaker to president in 2018.

Even though he is absent from the campaign, under house arrest for plotting a coup after losing Brazil's last election in 2022, Jair Bolsonaro's legacy has loomed large over the campaign.

"I would like to have Jair on the ballot. Since Jair isn't there, I'm going with Flavio," said Marco Antonio da Rosa, a 21-year-old law student at the Rio rally.

- 'I re-educated him'-

Born in Rio de Janeiro state, Flavio Bolsonaro is the eldest of the former president's four sons, and the one who most closely resembles his father.

On the campaign trail, he displayed the relaxed Carioca style and language that the city of Rio is known for.

He often wears jeans and a T-shirt with a targeted slogan: "The Amazon is ours" to emphasize Brazilian sovereignty over the rainforest or "Agribusiness is great" when courting farmers.

In online videos, he does not shy away from tearing up or losing his cool when talking about the plight of his father or what he sees as persecution from the judiciary against his family.

Holding a law degree, the younger Bolsonaro became a state lawmaker in Rio de Janeiro at age 21 and a senator at age 37.

Father to two daughters, he cultivates the image of a devout family man. A key campaign slogan of his is "come with faith."

In one video showing a busy family morning at home, his dentist wife Fernanda takes credit for him being more mild-mannered than his father, joking: "I re-educated him."

- The banker and the stepmom -

In September it emerged that Flavio Bolsonaro was under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering linked to the financing of a biopic, "Dark Horse", about his father.

The film was bankrolled by banker Daniel Vorcaro, who is jailed in a multi-million dollar fraud case.

The Vorcaro case has ensnared many powerful people in Brazil and has dominated the election.

Bolsonaro had initially denied any contact with Vorcaro, or having flown in his private jet. He was forced to admit both after leaks from the investigation showed them to be true.

He also became embroiled in a family feud with his stepmother, the former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, who posted an Instagram video saying Bolsonaro had "disrespected me and mistreated me."

Michelle Bolsonaro accepted a public apology from Flavio Bolsonaro, but did not appear at any of his rallies.

In an earlier scandal when he was a Rio legislator, Bolsonaro was accused of involvement in a kickback scheme in which he took a portion of his aides' salaries, but the case was dismissed.

He has also faced scrutiny over his ties to Rio de Janeiro's militia figures.

- Tough on crime -

A hardliner on crime, Bolsonaro has praised the controversial security policies of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, and called for the building of "many, many prisons" in Brazil.

On social media, he embraces slick AI-generated campaign ads in which he often appears in a flight suit and aviator glasses piloting a fighter jet on a mission for Brazil.

In one, he leans out of the window shooting at drug traffickers on a boat.

"Compared to his father, he is more affable and personable...but that doesn't mean he isn't ideologically far-right," said political analyst Thomas Traumann.

K.Gray--SFF