2020 Elections

60% of the country’s municipalities have no women running for mayor this year

Figure translates to 3.351 cities; while in only 37 (0.6%) there are no men running for the job

Translated by: Ítalo Piva

Brasil de Fato | São Paulo |
Out of the 312 candidates running for mayor in the country's state capitals, only 59 are women - Fábio Pozzebom/Agência Brasil

In this year’s elections, 3.351 (60.16%) out of the 5.570 municipalities in the country will not have any women running for mayor. Out of this total, 299 cities have at least 7 men in the race, with no female opposition.

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The information comes from the Gender and Numbers platform, which deals with gender issues based on data.

Still according to their findings,  37 cities (0.06%) will not have any men running for the job, only women. These figures show that even before all ballots are counted, we already know that at least 60.16% of Brazilian municipalities will be headed by men.

In another 1.530 towns (27%), only one woman is in the mayoral race. In only 572 (11%), women will be running against only one male candidate.

All the while, only 15 cities have more than four women running for the position. In all these cases, men are still the majority. Women represent more than 75% of the candidacies in 42 municipalities (0.75%) out the country’s 5.570.

Data compiled by Brasil de Fato showed that only 59 out of the 312 candidates running for the country’s 27 state capitals, or 23%, are women. According to the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), women represent 52.49% of the 147.9 million people eligible to vote in this year’s elections.

The two state capitals with the highest number of female candidates are Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba, with 6 each. Among the candidates in Curitiba is Letícia Lanz, from the PSOL party, the only trans woman running for mayor in all of Brazil’s state capitals.

Edited by: Lucas Weber