Evangelicals Beyond the Far Right: An Analysis of the Political Behavior, Values and Preferences of Brazilian Evangelicals in the First Two Years of the Lula Government

This article consolidates a combined analysis of the results from qualitative research conducted through focus groups during the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024 with evangelical individuals. These focus groups were held in person in various cities across the country (Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, São Luís, São Paulo, Niterói, Maricá, Duque de Caxias, Diadema, Osasco), where participants responded to a semi-structured question guide about their perceptions of everyday issues and the impact of government and institutional politics on their lives. Each focus group consisted of 10 evangelical men and women from the aforementioned cities, all voters, reflecting the electoral proportionality of evangelical votes for Lula and Bolsonaro observed in 2022, meaning that most participants were Bolsonaro voters. The aim of this text is to advance the understanding of how evangelical individuals are processing the political polarization between Lula and Bolsonaro and how their concrete interests interact with the current dynamics of Brazilian macro-institutional politics. The conclusion is that polarization remains strong within this segment of the electorate; however, there is a potential for breaking the polarization and expanding Lula’s support base through expectations surrounding the president's economic performance, indicating that the Brazilian evangelical population is far from being the primary base of the far-right in the country.