In Brazil, progressive parties win in one capital and five other cities in the second round of elections

Brasil de Fato

Of the 51 Brazilian cities in the second round of elections, only six will be governed by progressive parties. Four are from President Lula’s Workers’ Party, and two are from the Democratic Labour Party. 

The only capital in this group is Fortaleza in Ceará state, which will be governed by Workers’ Party candidate Evandro Leitão in 2025. This victory marks a recovery for the party, which had not elected any leaders in the 26 capitals in 2020. 

The Workers’ Party also secured a symbolic victory with Marcelo Oliveira’s re-election in Mauá, in the ABC region [an industrial area in Greater São Paulo state], the party’s historic cradle. They also won in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul state, with Fernando Marroni, and in the critical industrial hub of Camaçari, Bahia state, with Luiz Caetano. 

The other two progressive victories came from the Democratic Labour Party. The party elected Rodrigo Neves for a third term as mayor of Niterói in Rio de Janeiro, a city under left-wing control, especially the Labour Party, since 1989. They also won the mayoralty of Serra, Espírito Santo’s most populous city, with Weverson Meireles. 

The far-right party won six, with the centrist party in the lead 

On the other hand, in the Brazilian political scenario, former President Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right party (PL) won six city halls, including two capitals. In Cuiabá, Mato Grosso state, Abílio Brunini won a surprisingly close race, defeating Workers’ Party candidate Lúdio Cabral. The city of Aracaju elected Emília Corrêa, from the same party as Bolsonaro, making her the first woman to run the capital of Sergipe. 

The party also won in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, with Airton Souza; Anápolis, Goiás, with Marcio Correa; São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, with Fabio Candido; and Guarulhos, São Paulo’s second-largest city in population, with Lucas Sanches. 

The majority of municipalities were won by candidates from the so-called “centrão,” the centrist’ party, a grouping of right-wing and center-right parties that houses most of the traditional oligarchies.