Mayors in Brazil

In Brazil, the mayor is the chief executive of the smallest territorial unit — the municipality (Template:Langx) — and holds executive powers of the local government, in a "strong mayor-council" arrangement. In Portuguese, 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, 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 places)Template:Citation needed.

With the end of the military dictatorship and enacting of the 1988 Constitution, all mayors and councillors in the nation are elected every four years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The most recent election was held in 2024.

The federal capital, Brasília, has no mayor; instead, executive duties are carried out by the Governor of the Federal District.

The insular district of Fernando de Noronha which belongs to the State of Pernambuco 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 and São Paulo, have considerable influence in national politics and are usually potential presidential candidates.

Mayors of Brazilian state capitals as of July 2025

Town	State	Mayor	Photo	Party
Southeast capitals
Belo Horizonte	Minas Gerais	Álvaro Damião *		Brazil Union (UNIÃO)
Rio de Janeiro Error creating thumbnail:	Rio de Janeiro	Eduardo Paes	File:2023-07-04 Eduardo Paes, prefeito da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, na Frente Nacional de Prefeitos (cropped).jpg	Social Democratic Party (PSD)
São Paulo File:Brasão da cidade de São Paulo.svg	São Paulo	Ricardo Nunes **	File:Ricardo Nunes em Coletiva de Imprensa.jpg	Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB)
Vitória File:Brasão de Vitória, Espírito Santo.svg	Espírito Santo	Lorenzo Pazolini	File:Lorenzo Pazolini (cropped).jpg	Republicans (PRB)
South capitals
Curitiba File:Brasão de Curitiba.svg	Paraná	Eduardo Pimentel	File:Eduardo Pimentel - Prefeito em exercício de Curitiba (cropped).jpg	Social Democratic Party (PSD)
== Florianópolis == File:Brasão de Florianópolis.png	Santa Catarina	Topázio Neto	File:Prefeito Topázio Silveira Neto 02 (cropped) (cropped).jpg	Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Porto Alegre File:Coats of arms of Porto Alegre.svg	Rio Grande do Sul	Sebastião Melo	File:08-12-2021 Lançamento da pré-candidatura de Simone Tebet à Presidência da República (486) - 51735868431 (cropped).jpg	Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB)
Northeast capitals
Aracaju File:Brasão de Aracaju.svg	Sergipe	Emília Corrêa	File:2024 EMILIA CORREIA TSE SE 260001926362.jpg	Liberal Party (PL)
Fortaleza File:Brasão de Fortaleza.svg	Ceará	Evandro Leitão	File:Evandro Leitão - Enhanced picture.jpg	Workers' Party (PT)
João Pessoa File:Brasão de João Pessoa.svg	Paraíba	Cícero Lucena	File:11 12 2024 - Reunião com Cicero Lucena, Prefeito de João Pessoa (54198867920) (cropped).jpg	Progressives (PP)
Maceió File:Brasão de Maceió.svg	Alagoas	João Henrique Caldas	File:178842.jpgmaior.jpg	Liberal Party (PL)
Natal File:Brasão de Natal.svg	Rio Grande do Norte	Paulo Eduardo Freire	File:Paulinho Freire img20230523191716880 (1) - cropped.jpg	Brazil Union (UNIÃO)
Recife File:Coat of arms of Recife.svg	Pernambuco	João Henrique Campos	File:João Campos em 24 de maio de 2019 (2; recorte).jpg	Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB)
Salvador File:Brasão de Salvador.svg	Bahia	Bruno Soares Reis	File:Bruno Reis (foto oficial para o TSE).png	Brazil Union (UNIÃO)
São Luís File:Brasão de São Luís.svg	Maranhão	Eduardo Braide	File:Eduardo Braide (cropped).jpg	Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Teresina File:Brasão de Teresina (correto).svg	Piauí	Silvio Mendes	File:2024 SILVIO MENDES CANDIDATO PREFEITO PI TERESINA TSE (180001882991).jpg	Brazil Union (UNIÃO)
North capitals
Belém File:Brasão de Belém.svg	Pará	Igor Normando	File:Igor Normando (cropped).jpg	Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB)
Boa Vista File:Boa Vista, RR - Brasão.png	Roraima	Arthur Henrique Machado	File:2024 ARTHUR HENRIQUE CANDIDATO PREFEITO RR BOA VISTA TSE (230002024201).jpg	Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB)
Macapá File:Brasão de Macapá.svg	Amapá	Antônio Furlan	File:Dr. Furlan Candidato a Prefeito de Macapá 2024 - TSE.jpg	Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB)
Manaus File:Brasão de Manaus.svg	Amazonas	David Almeida	File:Deputado Estadual David Almeida (Foto anterior).jpg	Avante
Palmas File:Brasão de Palmas (TO).png	Tocantins	Eduardo Siqueira Campos	File:Jose Eduardo Siqueira Campos.jpg	Podemos
Porto Velho File:Brasão de Porto Velho.svg	Rondônia	Hildon de Lima Chaves	File:Dr Hildon (cortado).png	Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Rio Branco File:Brasão de Rio Branco.svg	Acre	Tião Bocalom	File:Tião Bocalom 2022.jpg	Liberal Party (PL)
Center-West capitals
Campo Grande File:Brasão de Campo Grande.svg	Mato Grosso do Sul	Adriane Lopes	File:Adriane Lopes in June 2022.jpg	Progressives (PP)
Cuiabá File:Brasão de Cuiabá.svg	Mato Grosso	Abilio Brunini	File:Deputado Abilio Brunini (cropped).jpg	Liberal Party (PL)
Goiânia File:Brasão de Goiânia.svg	Goiás	Sandro Mabel	File:Sandro Mabel (cropped).jpg	Brazil Union (UNIÃO)

* Álvaro Damião of the (UNIÃO) succeeded Fuad Noman in 2025, after the death of the incumbent.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

** Ricardo Nunes of the (MDB) succeded Bruno Covas in 2021, after the death of the incumbent.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• List of mayors of Rio de Janeiro
• List of mayors of São Paulo
• Template:Illm (city council)