With the support of former president José Sarney, Natália do Júnior Garimpeiro (União Brasil) was elected on Sunday the youngest state deputy in the country in the next legislature.
Natália has a political base in Centro Novo do Maranhão, a city of 16 thousand inhabitants located on the border with Pará. She received 32,486 votes and won the first election of her career a few days before turning 22, which will take place on the 18th.
The reporter tried to contact the elected deputy through the press office, but did not receive a response until the publication of this report.
She was the most voted in the municipality, with 4,386 votes, equivalent to 47.2% of the valid votes for the Legislative Assembly in the city. Natália received votes in all 188 cities in Maranhão.
During the campaign, Natália do Júnior Garimpeiro —name of Natália Silva Melo— counted on strong support, including former president José Sarney (MDB), who even recorded a video in support of the candidate.
"She is our candidate for state deputy and, without a doubt, she will receive great support from the people of the region, so that she will be a great representative in the Legislative Assembly of our state", stated Sarney.
The video was recorded at a meeting between Sarney and Natália, which also included the participation of the former governor and defeated candidate for the Senate, Roseana Sarney (MDB), and the mayor of Centro Novo do Maranhão, Júnior Garimpeiro (PSDB), Natália's political godfather.
A businessman linked to the mining sector, Júnior Garimpeiro has already been arrested twice during his term in office.
The first arrest occurred in 2021, when he was detained after spending almost two weeks on the run, suspected of being part of a criminal organization that deforested more than 60 thousand hectares to set up illegal gold mining.
In 2025, he was detained in Confresa (1,180 km from Cuiabá) with bags of ore with traces of gold, on suspicion of extraction in indigenous territory. At the time of both cases, the mayor's defense denied irregularities.
In September of this year, the Public Ministry of Maranhão filed an appeal to request the mayor's precautionary removal based on a popular action related to alleged irregularities in a auction opened in 2024 for the contracting of engineering services for the recovery of roads, worth R$18 million.
The Maranhão Court rejected the request, considering that there were not enough elements to justify the removal.
Natália was born in Governador Nunes Freire, a city in the Alto Turi region, but has her political base in Centro Novo do Maranhão.
To the Electoral Court, Natália declared that she was married, had incomplete higher education and had assets of R$186,000, of which R$100,000 were in shares in the company Rio Cachoeira Comércio e Serviços Ltda., founded in May 2022 and which trades in parts and accessories for vehicles.
She also declared a 2025 Hilux SW4, worth R$60,000, and a house worth R$26,000 in Centro Novo do Maranhão.
União Brasil elected two state and two federal deputies, including Pedro Lucas Fernandes, the most voted from Maranhão to the Chamber of Deputies.
Furthermore, the state's best-voted senator, André Fufuca, is from the PP, which is part of a party federation with União Brasil.
Among the proposals defended by Natália are a program to expand the supply of full-time daycare centers and the Minha Primeira Casa project, aimed at acquiring own properties. According to the elected deputy, the initiative would initially serve public servants who do not yet have a property and, in a second stage, families with an income of up to three minimum wages.
