Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas (born 19 June 1975) is a Brazilian engineer and politician who has served as Governor of São Paulo since 1 January 2023. A member of the Republicanos party, Freitas served Minister of Infrastructure under President Jair Bolsonaro from 1 January 2019 to 31 March 2022.[1][2]

Tarcísio de Freitas
Official portrait, 2023
Governor of São Paulo
Assumed office
1 January 2023
Vice GovernorFelicio Ramuth
Preceded byRodrigo Garcia
Minister of Infrastructure
In office
1 January 2019 – 31 March 2022
PresidentJair Bolsonaro
Preceded byValter Casimiro
Succeeded byMarcelo Sampaio
Director General of the National Department of Transport Infrastructure
In office
22 September 2014 – 16 January 2015
PresidentDilma Rousseff
Preceded byJorge Fraxe
Succeeded byAdailton Dias
Personal details
Born
Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas

(1975-06-19) 19 June 1975 (age 49)
Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Political partyRepublicanos (2022–present)
SpouseCristiane Ferreira da Silva
Children2
Alma mater
Signature
Military service
Allegiance Brazil
Branch/service Brazilian Army
Rank Captain

Freitas resigned from office in order to run for Governor of São Paulo in the 2022 election.[3] In the October 2022 run-off Tarcísio defeated PT candidate Fernando Haddad, becoming the first elected governor of São Paulo in 28 years to not be a PSDB member.[4][a]

Background and education

edit

Freitas was born in Rio de Janeiro.[5]

 
Freitas in 2019

A government employee linked to the legislative consultancy body of the Chamber of Deputies, Freitas is a graduate of Agulhas Negras Military Academy and also graduated in engineering at the Military Institute of Engineering, where he scored the highest average grade in the institution.[6]

Gomes served as engineer for the Brazilian Army, chief of the technical section of the Engineering Company of Brazil at United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and auditing coordinator in the Transportation Division of the Comptroller General of Brazil (CGU).

In 2011, he was appointed executive director of the National Department of the Infrastructure of Transportation (DNIT) by General Jorge Fraxe, who led the office during the "ethical cleaning" ordered by then-president Dilma Rousseff, after a crisis caused by corruption allegations. He ascended to the directory-general in 2014.[7]

In 2015, he acted as secretary of the Coordination of Projects of the Special Secretariat of the Program of Partnerships of Investments (PPI), responsible for the program of privatizations and concessions.

Governor of São Paulo

edit

Prior to announcing his candidacy for Governor of São Paulo in the 2022 election, he was speculated to run for Federal Senate to represent Brasília.[8] Following his victory in the 2022 gubernatorial election, commentators have suggested that he may run for President in the 2026 Brazilian general election.[9]

Personal life

edit

Freitas is Roman Catholic.[10][11]

Electoral history

edit
2022 São Paulo gubernatorial election
Party Candidate Round 1 Round 2
Votes % Votes %
Republicanos Tarcísio de Freitas 9,881,995 42.32% 13,480,190 55.27%
PT Fernando Haddad 8,337,139 35.70% 10,908,972 44.73%
PSDB Rodrigo Garcia (incumbent) 4,296,293 18.40% Eliminated
NOVO Vinicius Poit 388,974 1.67% Eliminated
PDT Elvis Cezar 281,712 1.21% Eliminated
UP Carol Vigliar 88,767 0.38% Eliminated
PCB Gabriel Colombo 46,727 0.20% Eliminated
PSTU Altino Prazeres 14,859 0.06% Eliminated
DC Antonio Jorge 10,778 0.05% Eliminated
PCO Edson Dorta 5,305 0.02% Eliminated
Total votes 23,352,549 100.00% 24,389,162 100.00%
Invalid and blank votes 3,795,298 13.98% 2,951,685 10.79%
Republicanos gain from PSDB

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Governors Cláudio Lembo (DEM) and Márcio França (PSB) were not elected to the office of governor, having assumed the position as vice governors.

References

edit
  1. ^ Vilela, Pedro Rafael (27 November 2018). "Bolsonaro indica ex-diretor do Dnit para Ministério da Infraestrutura" (in Portuguese). Agência Brasil. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  2. ^ Mazui, Guilherme (27 November 2018). "Bolsonaro anuncia ex-diretor do Dnit Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas para ministro da Infraestrutura" (in Portuguese). G1. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  3. ^ Andrade', 'Tainá (2022-03-31). "Tarcísio Freitas deixa o ministério para concorrer ao governo de SP". Política (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  4. ^ Martins', 'Thays (30 October 2022). "Apoiado por Bolsonaro, Tarcísio de Freitas é eleito governador de São Paulo". Política (in Brazilian Portuguese).
  5. ^ "Se eleito senador, Tarcísio de Freitas deve disputar a Presidência em 2026". Jornal Opção (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2021-06-20. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  6. ^ Rothenburg, Denise (28 November 2018). "Bolsonaro aumenta número de ministérios para atender núcleos econômico, militar e político" (in Portuguese). Correio Braziliense. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  7. ^ Borges, André (22 September 2014). "Diretor assume chefia do DNIT no lugar de general" (in Portuguese). Estadão. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Se eleito senador, Tarcísio de Freitas deve disputar a Presidência em 2026". Jornal Opção (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2021-06-20. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  9. ^ "Rivais em SP, Haddad e Tarcísio emergem como presidenciáveis para 2026 | Metrópoles". Metropoles (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-01-03. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  10. ^ "Quem é Tarcísio de Freitas, o 3º "superministro" de Bolsonaro". 20 May 2019.
  11. ^ "O trator que acelera o governo federal". 2 December 2019.
edit
Political offices
Preceded by
Valter Casimiro Silveira
as Minister of Transport
Minister of Infrastructure
2019–2022
Succeeded by
Marcelo Sampaio
Preceded by Governor of São Paulo
2023–present
Incumbent