Final count
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
| ELMANO DE FREITAS | PT | 2,875,573 | 53.2% |
| CIRO GOMES | PSDB | 2,498,891 | 46.2% |
| DELEGADO HUGGO | MISSÃO | 17,219 | 0.3% |
| VERA LÚCIA | NOVO | 5,701 | 0.1% |
| SERLEY LEAL | UP | 4,344 | 0.1% |
| ZÉ BATISTA | PSTU | 2,161 | 0.0% |
| DANILO SOARES | DEMOCRATA | 1,743 | 0.0% |
| IERI BRAGA | PCO | 463 | 0.0% |
| Total votes | 5,406,095 | |
Turnout 84.5%: 5,905,522 ballots from 6,991,044 registered voters.
TSE EA20 result file, round 1, generated 4 Oct 2026 23:11:32 Brasília time: final totalisation ('tf': 's', 'and': 'f'), 23,765 of 23,765 polling sections totalised on 4 Oct 2026 at 23:10:27 (Brasília time, UTC-3). Rows: each candidate's ballot name and party as the TSE writes them, with nominal votes. totalVotes = valid votes ('vv', nominal only: no party-label votes for this office) 5,406,095; ballots = attendance ('c') 5,905,522; electorate ('te') 6,991,044; blank 170,316, null 329,111. Elected in round 1 (absolute majority of valid votes, Constitution art. 28 with art. 77): ELMANO DE FREITAS (PT), status 'Eleito'. Diplomação (by 18 Dec 2026) is a later formality and does not change the count. Observed: the TSE result file for CE (governor, cargo 3, election 6259) shows the final totalisation ('tf': 's', 'and': 'f', all 23,765 polling sections) on 4 Oct 2026 at 23:10:27 Brasília time, recorded as 2026-10-05T02:10:27Z. Published by Tribunal Superior Eleitoral, 5 Oct 2026: resultados.tse.jus.br/oficial/ele2026/6259/dados/ce/ce-c0003-e006259-u.json. Official publication of the TSE; no reuse terms stated. Lei 9.610/1998 art. 8 IV (planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/l9610.htm, read 25 Oct 2026): "Não são objeto de proteção como direitos autorais [...] os textos de tratados ou convenções, leis, decretos, regulamentos, decisões judiciais e demais atos oficiais".
The authority's own page is the primary source for this result; this page is a copy of it.