Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

is the chief executive of the smallest territorial unit — the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

() — and holds executive powers of the local government, in a "strong mayor-council" arrangement. In

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, the mayor is called the ''prefeito'' (if male) or ''prefeita'' (if female), while the government itself is termed the ''prefeitura''. The current system of mayor and council (called the ''Câmara Municipal'') dates from the 1930 revolution and the

Vargas era The Vargas Era (Portuguese: ''Era Vargas''; ) is the period in the history of Brazil between 1930 and 1945, when the country was governed by president Getúlio Vargas. The period from 1930 to 1937 is known as the Second Brazilian Republic, and ...

, albeit with changes how elections are conducted. Until 1982, Brazilian mayors were usually elected by the local population, with the exception of state capitals, international border towns, and "national security zones" (which included strategic

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

places). With the end of the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

and enacting of the 1988 Constitution, all mayors and councillors in the nation are elected every four years. Mayors are elected by a first past the post system in most municipalities—however, if its population is over 200,000, an outright majority is needed to win or the vote will go to a second round runoff election. The most recent election was held in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

. The federal capital,

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

, has no mayor; instead, executive duties are carried out by the Governor of the

Federal District A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they e ...

. The insular district of

Fernando de Noronha Fernando de Noronha () is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the State of Pernambuco, Brazil, and located off the Brazilian coast. It consists of 21 islands and islets, extending over an area of . Only the eponymous main island is inha ...

which belongs to the State of

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...

doesn't have a mayor, but has an administrator appointed by the Governor, the administrator performs the duties of a mayor during a four-year term, and like Brasília, the district doesn't have municipal elections. In Brazil, mayors of larger cities, such as

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

and

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, have considerable influence in national

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and are usually potential presidential candidates.

Mayors of Brazilian state capitals as of April 2021

Maguito Vilela Luís Alberto Maguito Vilela (24 January 1949 – 13 January 2021) was a Brazilian politician who served as a Senator, and was mayor of Goiânia. Biography Vilela was a Brazilian politician and lawyer. He was Governor of Goiás from 1995 to 199 ...

of the

MDB MDB may refer to: Computing * .mdb, a file-extension used in certain versions of Microsoft Access databases * MDB, a kernel debugger for the Linux kernel. * MDB, the NASDAQ ticker symbol for MongoDB, a database management system. * Message Drive ...

was elected in 2020, but died during his term. Vice-mayor Rogério Cruz thus succeeded him. **

Bruno Covas Bruno Covas Lopes (7 April 1980 – 16 May 2021) was a Brazilian lawyer, economist, and politician who was a member of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) and served as the mayor of São Paulo from 2018 until his death in 2021. Co ...

of the

PSDB The Brazilian Social Democracy Party ( pt, Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira, PSDB), also known as the Brazilian Social Democratic Party or the Party of Brazilian Social Democracy,. is a political party in Brazil. As the third largest par ...

was elected in 2020, but died during his term. Vice-mayor Ricardo Nunes thus succeeded him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brazil, Mayors Of

Mayors of Brazilian state capitals as of April 2021

See also

References