2024 Brazil elections: a review of the first round

Brasil de Fato

October 6 marks the beginning of the 2024 Brazilian municipal elections. Over 155 million Brazilians headed to the polls to elect new mayors and councilors in all 5,570 municipalities. But how did people vote in the first round around the country?   

São Paulo will have a second round between current mayor Ricardo Nunes and the left-wing candidate supported by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party) Guilherme Boulos: they finished the first voting round in a technical tie with 29.48% and 29.07% respectively. 

Porto Alegre, one of the cities still trying to rebuild after the floods that devastated the state of Rio Grande do Sul between April and May this year, will also decide who the next mayor will be in the second round. The current mayor Sebastião Melo had 49,72% of the votes, while Maria do Rosário got 26,28%.   

In Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state of Minas Gerais, the candidates will also face each other on October 27 after a fierce race. The economist and current mayor, Fuad Noman, won 26.47% of the valid votes, against 34.37% for state deputy Bruno Engler, who is from the same party as Bolsonaro.   

Belém, the capital of Pará state, which will be hosting the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the COP 30 edition, for the first time in November 2025, will have a second round.  The candidate Igor Normando, supported by Governor Helder Barbalho, had 44,89%, and Éder Mauro, backed by former President Jair Bolsonaro, got 31.48% of voting and will face each other on the last Sunday of the month.   

In Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas, the current mayor, David Almeida with 32,16% of the votes, will contest a second round of the municipal elections with Captain Alberto Neto who had 24.94%, and is also supported by Bolsonaro. The winner will face the challenges of climate and fires that have hit the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon.     

Other places where the population will be back to vote in the second round are Porto Velho, Campo Grande, Aracaju, Palmas, Curitiba, João Pessoa, Natal, Fortaleza, Cuiabá, and Goiânia.  

Rio de Janeiro re-elected its current mayor, the center candidate Eduardo Paes, for the fourth time in a row with 60.47% of the votes. Paes also had the support of President Lula.  

In Salvador, mayor Bruno Reis was re-elected with 78% of the votes. Throughout the campaign, polls showed the candidate well ahead in the electoral race.   

The cities that decided their mayor names in the first round are Boa Vista, João Pessoa, Macapá, Maceió, Recife, São Luís, Vitória, Florianópolis, and Teresina.    

The areas with a second round will also count on new debates between the candidates, continuing the political campaign. Brasil de Fato will continue covering the scenario and the second round of the elections on October 27.