State or region
Governor of Rio de Janeiro
- Portuguese: Governador
How it's filled
- In plain words
- Elected
- Exact method
- Direct election by absolute majority of valid votes with a second round if needed; four-year term, one consecutive re-election (Constitution of Brazil arts. 28, 77 and 14 para. 5). Vacancies are filled under the state constitution. The next governor takes office on 6 January 2027.
- Seats
- 1
Who holds it now
- Ricardo Couto de Castro Acting since March 2026 Report Source: pt.wikipedia.org, checked
Most recent election, October 4, 2026.
Next vote
Sources
- planalto.gov.br · checked Constitution of Brazil arts. 14, 27, 28: governor election method and term; seat counts of the state legislatures (3x federal deputies up to 12, plus one per deputy above 12; federal bench sizes per Lei Complementar 78/1993 as updated). For: Governor of Rio de Janeiro
- planalto.gov.br · checked Constitution of Brazil, office titles Governador / Deputado Estadual / Deputado Distrital (arts. 27, 28, 32). For: Governor of Rio de Janeiro in Portuguese
- pt.wikipedia.org · checked Wikipedia (pt), Lista de governadores das unidades federativas do Brasil, read 2026-10-12: governor, party and start date. Fallback: Wikipedia, because official state sites were not fetched; cross-checked with news reports. For: Ricardo Couto de Castro, current term
- agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br · checked Agência Brasil, Quando será o segundo turno das eleições, read 2026-10-12: Rio de Janeiro governor run-off on 25 Oct 2026 between Douglas Ruas (PL) and Eduardo Paes (PSD); consistent with Correio da Manhã, Estado de Minas and Midiamax headlines of Oct 2026 (Ruas and Paes go to the second round). Migration 056, ticket 836. For: General election, October 25, 2026
- agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br · checked Corrected the note: the 2026 Rio de Janeiro governor election was not decided in the first round; Agência Brasil (read 2026-10-12) lists the 25 Oct 2026 run-off between Douglas Ruas (PL) and Eduardo Paes (PSD). Migration 056, ticket 836. For: General election, October 6, 2030
- agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br · checked Agência Brasil, Quando será o segundo turno das eleições, Oct 2026, read 2026-10-12; BBC Brasil via O Povo 2026-10-11 (which states go to run-off on 2026-10-25); 2030 dates from Constitution art. 28. For: General election, October 6, 2030