Northeast guarantees PT’s only victory in a capital; centrão dominates the other regions
A look at the five regions of Brazil helps to explain the hegemony of the centrão parties in these 2024 municipal elections and the weakening of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s PT.
The only region in which the PT is among the five largest parties in terms of number of city halls is North East – even so, in fifth place. It is also the only capital city won by a PT member, Evandro Leitão, elected mayor of Fortaleza (CE) in the second round. The dispute was fierce, against André Fernandes (PL).
Nationally, Lula’s party now occupies 9th place in the ranking of parties with the largest number of mayors in Brazil, with 252. In the second round, this Sunday (27), the PT won in four cities.
The PSD, chaired by the former mayor of São Paulo and former minister Gilberto Kassab, was the dominant force in the Southeast Regionwith 354 city halls won. Nationally, the party was the one that elected the most mayors in 2024. There were 887 cities, a symbol of the victory of the “centrão” this year.
Before strong in Southeastthe PSDB declined in these elections. The party, which governed the state of São Paulo for almost three decades, is not even among the five largest parties in terms of number of city halls in the Southeast. On a national level, the toucans held 273 city halls – there were 523 in 2020.
MDB leads in the number of cities conquered in the Northeast and North. União Brasil is the largest party force in the Midwest. Node South of the country, the Progressistas (PP) consolidated itself as the largest regional force, surpassing the MDB
Check below the complete data divided by region of Brazilwith partial data from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). The numbers may change due to the undefined situation of some of the elected candidates – who are sub judice.
Northeast Region
The Northeast of Brazil is the only region in which the PT is among the five parties with the most mayoralties won in the 2024 elections – in fifth place.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s party will govern 170 northeastern municipalities.
The PT’s only victory in a capital was in the Northeast, in Fortaleza (CE), where Evandro Leitão defeated André Fernandes, from PL, in the second round.
The leader in the number of city halls in the region is the MDB, with 282 city halls – but no capital.
Next comes the PSD, with 275 cities, including São Luís (MA), where Eduardo Braide won in the first round, with 70.12% of the votes.
The PSB won 212 city halls, with emphasis on the capital of Pernambuco, Recife. There, João Campos won the election in the first round, with 78.11% of the votes.
The PP won in 213 municipalities in the Northeast Region. One of them was João Pessoa (PB), where mayor Cicero Lucena was re-elected in this second round.
Southeast Region
The 2024 elections confirmed what had already been rehearsed even before the election began, with the collapse of the PSDB, which ceased to be the main party force in the Southeast region and fell to seventh place.
The toucans were surpassed by Kassab’s PSD, which became the major party in the state of São Paulo in terms of the number of mayors. The party won another 200 city halls, jumping from 154 to 354, and surpassed the MDB, which fell from 171 to 165.
The best performance of Kassab’s party in the region was observed in São Paulo and Minas Gerais – states in which the PSD is also the largest party. This Sunday, in Belo Horizonte, the current mayor, Fuad Noman (PSD), was re-elected after defeating state deputy Bruno Engler (PL) in the second round.
Other highlights in the Southeast were Bolsonaro’s PL, which advanced from 89 to 184 city halls, and the Republicans, which jumped from 78 cities under his administration to 178.
The PL, in fact, consolidated itself, in this year’s elections, as the largest political force in Rio de Janeiro and the second largest in São Paulo (behind only the PSD).
The Republicans, led by the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, are the third party in the state and the second in Minas Gerais.
The group of five parties with the most city halls in the Southeast is completed by the PP, with 150 cities.
North Region
Centrão parties dominate the North of Brazil in terms of the number of city halls. All five largest parties in this area are from this political spectrum: MDB, with 110 cities; União Brasil, with 101; Republicans, with 81; PP, with 59; and PSD, with 35 municipalities.
The MDB conquered the capitals Belém (PA), Boa Vista (RR), Macapá (AP). In Belém, Igor beat Eder Mauro, from PL, in this second round. In Boa Vista, Arthur Henrique won in the first round, with 75.18% of the votes. In Macapá, MDB’s victory was also in the first round, with Dr. Furlan receiving 85.08% of the votes.
União Brasil is the second largest force in the North Region and, although it did not conquer a capital there, it held many city halls in Amazonas, Rondônia and Amapá.
Midwest Region
União Brasil appears as the great force in the center-west of Brazil in these 2024 municipal elections. The party won control of 155 municipalities, considering the definitions in the first and second round.
União Brasil won Sandro Mabel in Goiânia (GO) this Sunday (27). Mabel defeated former state deputy Fred Rodrigues (PL). The result showed the strength of the governor of Goiás, Ronaldo Caiado, also from União Brasil, over former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
Bolsonaro’s PL won 53 city halls in the region, including Cuiabá, capital of Mato Grosso. The person elected in the city was a politician closely identified with Bolsonarism, federal deputy Abilio Brunini.
The PP won the mayorship of Campo Grande (MS), under the command of Adriane Lopes, who beat the União Brasil candidate, Rose Modesto, in this second round. Adriane’s party won 46 city halls in the center-west of Brazil.
Even though it has not conquered any capital in this region, the MDB is the second largest party force there, with 75 city halls. The PSDB comes next, with 54 municipalities.
South Region
In the south of the country, the Progressistas (PP) consolidated itself as the largest regional force, surpassing the MDB. With the results obtained at the polls in 2024, the party increased the number of city halls from 217 to 278.
The party chaired by senator Ciro Nogueira (PI), former minister of the Civil House in the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), was boosted by the good performance in the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná.
Next comes the MDB, with 225 city halls — the second largest political force in the south of the country, very close to the PSD, third place, with 217.
In Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul, the MDB secured another four years in office with the re-elected mayor Sebastião Melo, who beat Maria do Rosário (PT)
One of the great winners of municipal elections across the country, the PSD, led by the former mayor of São Paulo and former minister Gilberto Kassab, also recorded significant growth in the South region, winning 40 new city halls and reaching the mark of 217 representatives in charge of the Executive Branch at the local level.
This Sunday (27), the party won important victories such as that of Eduardo Pimentel, elected mayor of Curitiba (PR). The PSD holds the government of the state of Paraná, with Ratinho Júnior.
The biggest advance, in number of city halls, however, was that of the PL, which jumped from 66 to 179 in the South region. The results obtained in the 2024 election made Bolsonaro’s party the largest political force in Santa Catarina, a state that it commands with Governor Jorginho Mello.
The list of the five parties with the most city halls in the south of the country is completed by União Brasil, still far from the other four parties, with 60 city halls under its command.
