Raquel Teixeira Lyra Lucena (born 2 December 1978) is a Brazilian lawyer, politician and the current governor of Pernambuco since 2023. Lyra was mayor of

Caruaru Caruaru is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Pernambuco. The most populous city in the interior of the state, Caruaru is located in the microzone of Agreste and because of its cultural importance, it is nicknamed ''Capital do Agreste'' (Por ...

from 2017 to 2022. A member of a political family, she previously served as a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Pernambuco The Legislative Assembly of Pernambuco ( pt, Assembleia Legislativa de Pernambuco, ''Alepe'') is the unicameral legislature of the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. It has 49 state deputies elected by proportional representation. The most recent elect ...

. She is affiliated to the

Brazilian Social Democracy Party 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 Brazil has a multi-pa ...

(PSDB) but was a member of the

Brazilian Socialist Party The Brazilian Socialist Party ( pt-BR, Partido Socialista Brasileiro, PSB) is a political party in Brazil. It was founded in 1947, before being abolished by the military regime in 1965 and re-organised in 1989 after the re-democratisation of Bra ...

(PSB).

Early career

Lyra was born to João Lyra Neto, the former mayor of Caruaru and

Governor of Pernambuco The Governor of the State of Pernambuco is the chief executive of the state of Pernambuco. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Pernambuco's state government. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her Excellency w ...

, and Mércia Lyra, daughter of the former mayor of Caruaru João Lyra Filho and niece of

Itamar Franco Itamar Augusto Cautiero Franco (; 28 June 19302 July 2011) was a Brazilian politician who served as the 33rd president of Brazil from 29 December 1992 to 31 December 1994. Previously, he was the 21st vice president of Brazil from 1990 until the ...

's Minister of Justice Fernando Soares Lyra. Lyra was elected to the state legislative of Pernambuco in the 2010 elections with 49,610 votes. Lyra was reelected in 2014 with around 80,000 votes, being the most voted state representative in that election. Lyra was elected mayor of her hometown Caruaru in 2017 with 53.15% of the vote. She is the first woman to be elected as a mayor of Caruaru.

Governor of Pernambuco

In 31 March 2022 she resigned to the office of mayor of

in order to run in the

2022 Pernambuco gubernatorial election The 2022 Pernambuco state elections took place in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil on 2 October 2022. Voters elected a governor, vice governor, one senator, 25 representatives for the Chamber of Deputies, and 49 Legislative Assembly members. Pau ...

as a candidate. She finished the first round of the elections in the second place, with 20.58% of the valid votes, and advanced to a run-off in the second round with

Marília Arraes Marília Valença Rocha Arraes de Alencar (born April 12, 1984) is a Brazilian politician, member of Solidariedade (SD) since 2022. She was a federal deputy for Pernambuco for one term (2019-23). Between 2009-2019, she was a councillor of Recife, ...

, a member of

Solidariedade Solidarity (, (Brazilian Portuguese: ''Solidariedade'') is a Brazilian social-democratic political party that uses the TSE number 77. The party elected 13 deputies and one senator in the 2018 Brazilian general election. In the 2022 Brazilian ge ...

. Raquel was elected governor of Pernambuco on 30 October 2022, after obtaining 58.70% of the valid votes in the second round and defeating Marília Arraes, who obtained 41.30% of the votes. She is the first female governor of the state of Pernambuco.

Personal life

Lyra is the daughter of former mayor of Caruaru and former

João Lyra Neto. She is the widow of Fernando Lucena who died on the day of the first round of the 2022 Brazilian general election. She has two sons: Fernando Jr. and João.

Electoral history

2022 Pernambuco gubernatorial election

2020 Caruaru mayoral election

2016 Caruaru mayoral election

Legislative Assembly of Pernambuco

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyra, Raquel 1978 births Living people People from Caruaru Brazilian Social Democracy Party politicians Members of the Legislative Assembly of Pernambuco Women mayors of places in Brazil