Mayors in Brazil

In Brazil, the office of Mayor is the head of government of the smallest territorial unit — the município — and holds actual executive powers of local administration. In Portuguese, its title is called prefeito.

Until 1982, Brazilian mayors were usually elected by the local municipality population, except 1) state capitals, 2) international border towns, and 3) "national security zones" (which included important mining places). After the 1988 Constitution, all mayors in the nation are directly elected every four years.

The capital (Brasília), however, is governed by the Governor of the Federal District, who is not a mayor per se, but rather shares the same status as state governors.

In Brazil, mayors of largest cities, such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, have considerable influence in national politics, and are usually potential candidates to presidency.

Mayors of Brazilian state capitals

Town State Mayor Party
Southeast Capitals
São Paulo SP Fernando Haddad PT
Rio de Janeiro RJ Eduardo Paes PMDB
Belo Horizonte MG Marcio Lacerda PSB
Vitória ES Luciano Rezende PPS
South Capitals
Curitiba PR Gustavo Fruet PDT
Porto Alegre RS José Fortunati PDT
Florianópolis SC Cesar Souza Junior PSD
Northeast Capitals
Aracaju SE João Alves Filho DEM
Fortaleza CE Roberto Cláudio PSB
João Pessoa PB Luciano Cartaxo PT
Maceió AL Rui Palmeira PSDB
Natal RN Carlos Eduardo Alves PDT
Recife PE Geraldo Júlio PSB
Salvador BA Antonio Carlos Magalhães Neto DEM
São Luís MA Edivaldo Holanda Junior PTC
Teresina PI Firmino Filho PSDB
North Capitals
Belém PA Zenaldo Coutinho PSDB
Boa Vista RR Teresa Surita
PMDB
Macapá AP Clécio Luis PSOL
Manaus AM Arthur Virgílio Neto PSDB
Palmas TO Carlos Amastha PP
Porto Velho RO Mauro Nazif PSB
Rio Branco AC Marcus Alexandre PT
Center-West Capitals
Campo Grande MS Alcides Bernal PP
Cuiabá MT Mauro Mendes PSB
Goiânia GO Paulo Garcia PT

See also