Little attention has been paid to how the gender of political candidates affects vote choice when candidates have connections with corrupt firms, a primary pathway through which money – and corrupt transactions – are linked to candidates pursuing political office. This paper examines the effect of gender on voter perceptions of political candidates with ties to corrupt firms. We depart from assumptions that voters perceive women as inherently more honest than men and as outsiders to corrupt networks. We test these assumptions using a conjoint survey experiment in Brazil in 2021. Contrary to widespread expectations, we find that voters, regardless of their gender, prefer female over male mayoral candidates even when both are connected to corrupt firms. This preference for female candidates varies based on female representation in politics. Voters in municipalities with higher female political representation express lower support for female candidates relative to municipalities with no female representation. Our paper demonstrates the persistence of essentialist perceptions of women as more honest, even when they are business candidates connected to corrupt firms. It also highlights that actual experiences with women in political decision-making can influence voter perceptions of female candidates linked to corruption.