New Senate: How the 54 elected members think about gambling and betting.

The 54 senators elected this Sunday (4) arrive at Congress with more resistance than support for the legalization of casinos, bingo and jogo do bicho. Among those who have already voted or expressed themselves on PL 2.234/22, 16 are against and ten are in favor. Another 27 have no registered position, and one has ambiguous signs.

The BNLData survey separated two debates that are often treated as one. The first concerns physical gambling, as outlined in Bill 2.234/22, which is awaiting a vote in the Senate Plenary. The second concerns fixed-odds betting and online gambling, regulated by Law 14.790/2023 and currently prohibited by Provisional Measure 1.394/2026.

In the betting sector, the picture is even more open: 35 of the 54 elected officials have neither a vote nor a verified declaration. Among the 19 with registration, six voted in favor of regulating online gambling, four are against, and seven voted only to remove online casinos from the law.

Those elected will take office on February 1, 2027, for a term ending on January 31, 2035, joining the 27 senators whose terms end in 2031.

Bill 2.234/22: 16 against, ten in favor.

The bill legalizing casinos, bingo, and the jogo do bicho (a type of illegal lottery) was approved by the Senate's Constitution and Justice Committee on June 19, 2024, by a vote of 14 to 12. Since then, it has not been voted on in plenary session. On December 17, 2025, senators rejected the urgency request by a vote of 36 to 28.

Of the 14 sitting senators who won a new term, seven voted against the urgency: Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ), Alessandro Vieira (MDB-SE), Plínio Valério (PSDB-AM), Styvenson Valentim (Podemos-RN), Marcio Bittar (PL-AC), Lucas Barreto (PSD-AP), and Humberto Costa (PT-PE). Portinho, Vieira, and Plínio Valério had already voted against the text in the CCJ (Committee on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship).

Only two voted in favor of the urgency: Cid Gomes (PSB-CE), who also signed the support request, and Marcelo Castro (MDB-PI). Jaques Wagner (PT-BA) and Rogério Carvalho (PT-SE) approved the project in the CCJ, but were present and did not register their vote in December. Veneziano Vital do Rêgo (MDB-PB) also did not vote, Eduardo Braga (MDB-AM) did not attend, and Eduardo Gomes (PL-TO) presided over the session.

Among the elected and former deputies, the reference point is the vote on Bill 442/1991, the origin of the project, approved in the Chamber in February 2022 by 246 votes to 202. Those who voted against were Bia Kicis (PL-DF), Carlos Jordy (PL-RJ), Carol de Toni (PL-SC), Filipe Barros (PL-PR), Ubiratan Sanderson (PL-RS), Nicoletti (PL-RR), Zé Medeiros (PL-MT), Mara Rocha (Republicanos-AC), and Luizianne Lins (Rede-CE).

Those who voted in favor were Evair de Melo (Republicanos-ES), André Fufuca (PP-MA), Domingos Sávio (PL-MG), Marcel Van Hattem (Novo-RS), and Guilherme Derrite (PP-SP). Arthur Lira (PP-AL), who presided over the Chamber, did not vote, but he scheduled and defended the project.

The PL, the largest bloc among those elected, with 19 senators, is the focus of resistance: nine have registered votes against and nine have no record. The only one in favor is Domingos Sávio, who voted in 2022 when he was in the PSDB.

Bets: seven voted against the online casino.

In the debate surrounding fixed-odds betting, the most direct example is the Senate vote on Bill 3.626/2023 on December 12, 2023. By a vote of 37 to 27, senators approved Carlos Portinho's amendment that limited the law to bets on real events and excluded online games. The Chamber of Deputies overturned the change days later, by a vote of 261 to 120.

Seven of those elected voted in favor of the amendment: Portinho himself, Alessandro Vieira, Plínio Valério, Styvenson Valentim, Marcio Bittar, Eduardo Gomes, and Humberto Costa, one of the two PT members who disagreed with the party's orientation. The group rejected the online casino, but did not vote against sports betting.

Six voted to keep online gambling in the text: Eduardo Braga, Marcelo Castro, Veneziano Vital do Rêgo, Lucas Barreto, Jaques Wagner, and Rogério Carvalho. The two members of the Workers' Party appear ambiguous in the survey because the party's government issued Provisional Measure 1.394/2026 in September, which prohibits fixed-odds betting.

In the same session, the Senate rejected by 36 votes to 25 the amendment that prohibited betting advertising in arenas and sponsorship of athletes. Portinho, Vieira, Plínio Valério, Styvenson, and Bittar voted in favor of the prohibition. Braga, Castro, Wagner, Carvalho, and Eduardo Gomes voted against, and Humberto Costa abstained.

Portinho and Styvenson returned to the topic in 2025: the senator from Rio Grande do Norte is the author of Bill 2.985/2023, which originally prohibited all advertising of bets, and the senator from Rio de Janeiro reported on the milder substitute bill approved by the Senate in May of that year.

In the Chamber of Deputies, Bia Kicis, Carlos Jordy, and Carol de Toni voted against the final text of the betting law on December 21, 2023. Alexandre Guimarães (MDB-TO) voted in favor. Arthur Lira presided over the House and defended the regulation in plenary.

Rui Costa (PT-BA), former Chief of Staff, is the only elected official without a recent parliamentary mandate who has a clear public position. "I am against it, restrictions must be imposed," he said during the campaign, also advocating for barriers to advertising.

The two sides are not aligned. Lucas Barreto voted against the urgency regarding casinos and in favor of maintaining online gambling. Cid Gomes supports Bill 2.234/22, but did not register a vote on the amendment regarding online gambling.

Half of the caucus has not yet taken a position.

The 27 elected officials without a record regarding Bill 2.234/22 are the ones who will determine the outcome. This group includes governors and former governors, such as Renato Casagrande (PSB-ES), Helder Barbalho (MDB-PA), Mauro Mendes (União-MT), Reinaldo Azambuja (PL-MS), and João Azevêdo (PSB-PB), who have never voted on the matter in Congress.

Also on this list are those newly elected to federal office, including Michelle Bolsonaro (PL-DF), Carlos Bolsonaro (PL-SC), Gracinha Caiado (União-GO), Marina JHC (PSDB-AL), Rayssa Furlan (Podemos-AP), Samanda de Lula (PT-RN), and André do Prado (PL-SP). BNLData was unable to locate any public statements from them regarding casinos, bingo, or gambling.

In the case of the Bolsonaro family, there is only the context. Jair Bolsonaro promised to veto the legalization of gambling in 2022. Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), who is running in the second round of the presidential election, voted against the bill in the CCJ (Committee on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship) and against the urgency, and promises to maintain sports betting and prohibit online casinos.

No registration does not mean neutrality. Three deputies who took office in 2023, Gustavo Gayer (PL-GO), Fernando Máximo (PL-RO) and Alexandre Guimarães, did not participate in the 2022 vote. Deltan Dallagnol (Novo-PR) had his mandate revoked in May 2023, before the vote on the betting law.

None of the 54 elected officials have registered a vote on Provisional Measure 1.394/2026, which needs to be analyzed by Congress within 120 days.

Survey methodology

The classification considers nominal votes and public statements. For Bill 2.234/22, the vote in the Senate's Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Committee (June 19, 2024), the urgency request (December 17, 2025), and the vote on Bill 442/1991 in the Chamber of Deputies (February 23, 2022) were used. For the other bills, the amendments to Bill 3.626/2023 in the Senate (December 12, 2023) and the final vote in the Chamber of Deputies (December 21, 2023) were used.

The vote on urgency indicates willingness, not a vote on the merits. Votes from 2022 may not reflect current positions, especially for those who have changed parties. "Restrictive" identifies those who voted to exclude online gambling from the law without voting against sports betting.

Sources: Senate votes on Bill 2.234/2022 and Bill 3.626/2023 ; votes in the CCJ (Committee on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship) and on Bill 442/1991 in the Chamber of Deputies , from Congresso em Foco; list of elected officials , from Agência Senado.