Nearly one third of candidates for state governor in Brazil were born outside the states where they are running in October, a CNN survey shows.
According to the survey, 62 out of 196 gubernatorial candidatures across the country belong to politicians born in different states from where they are contesting office. The total represents 31.6 percent of all candidates running for state leadership.
The Federal District holds the highest proportion of out-of-state contenders, with eight of its 11 candidates, or 72.7 percent, born outside the capital territory. Tocantins recorded the second highest percentage, with five of its seven gubernatorial candidates, or 71.4 percent, hailing from other states.
Brazil is divided into 26 states and one Federal District, each electing a governor to serve as chief executive. The Federal District was established in 1960 to house the new federal capital, drawing most of its non-native candidates from neighboring states such as Goiás and Minas Gerais. Tocantins was founded alongside Brazil's 1988 Federal Constitution, with its out-of-state candidates moving primarily from adjacent areas in the central-west and northern regions.
Only three politicians contesting the governorship in the capital were born in the Federal District: Elisson of the Agir party, Leandro Grass of the Workers' Party, and Samara Mineiro of Popular Unity. In Tocantins, the only native candidates running for governor are Laurez Moreira of the Social Democratic Party and Luiz Carlos of the Democrats.
Regional figures and political migration
When broken down by geographic region, northern Brazil accumulated the highest proportion of non-native gubernatorial candidates at 42.80 percent. Female representation across all 196 candidatures remained low, with women making up just 19 percent of the total candidates competing nationwide.
Political experts evaluate that candidates change regions to seek elective office in states where competition is less intense. Leonardo Paz Neves, a political scientist at the research institution Fundação Getúlio Vargas, told CNN in February that several combined factors cause a politician to change their electoral domicile.
Under regulations set by the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral, Brazil's top electoral authority, candidates must establish their electoral domicile in the jurisdiction where they intend to run at least six months before voting takes place. Political party membership must also be officially approved within the same six-month deadline.
Out-of-state candidates in previous elections
The pattern of non-native state leadership was already prominent in the 2022 elections. Out of 27 victorious governors, 10 were born outside the states they were elected to govern.
Goiás produced the highest number of successful out-of-state governors in 2022, with four elected leaders originating from the state. Three of those governors were born in Anápolis, a city in Goiás with a population of 420,000 residents.
