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Municipal Elections 1996
On October 3, 1996, voters in 5,581 municipalities chose mayors
and city councils. Only thirty-one cities held runoff elections
on November 15. Big gains were made by the PSDB
and the PFL,
which took the cities of Rio
de Janeiro, Salvador,
and Recife for the first time, while a divided PMDB
declined considerably. Paulo Maluf elected his successor as mayor
of São
Paulo, thereby reinforcing his future political ambitions. On
the left, the Workers'
Party suffered reverses, and the PSB
advanced.
Generally, issues were local and not national, and women had increased
participation, boosted by the new 20 percent quota rule for proportional
elections. About 142 federal deputies decided to run in these local
elections, but only forty-two won and thus left the Congress. The
apparent desire for administrative continuity enhanced the arguments
in favor of the reelection amendment.
Data as of April 1997
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