Brazilian elections: why 2020 wasn’t like 2018

In 2018, a far-right wave swept over Brazilian politics — spearheaded by the landslide win of Jair Bolsonaro in the presidency. It was an election of extremes, and anti-politics. Many states elected newcomers as governors and Congress saw its highest renewal rate in two decades. However, just as the massive Operation Car Wash anti-corruption probe did not fundamentally change how parties finance their campaigns — with scandals continuing to sprout across the country — Mr. Bolsonaro’s triumph was not a deadly blow to the political establishment.

Center-right parties regained their protagonism in municipal elections, either by re-electing mayors or snatching new municipalities. These parties, part of an amalgam of rent-seeking groups with little ideological coherence often referred to as the “Big Center,” managed major wins in all Brazilian regions.

Meanwhile, pickings were slim for the extreme-right candidates elected on President Bolsonaro’s coattails in 2018. The Social Liberal Party — abandoned by Mr. Bolsonaro due to infighting — were the election’s biggest losers, spending a vast amount of public money on campaigning and getting very little in return.

The big winners of the 2020 elections

The happiest political group after Sunday’s results was clearly the Democratas party, which is increasingly becoming a powerful force on Brazil’s right.

Originally founded as the Liberal Front Party in 1985, Democratas began life as a result of a...