João Azevêdo's political career: from professor to senator of Paraíba

Former governor and former government secretary, the now senator has had a career in state politics for years.

g1 separated the main information about João Azevêdo's career, from his first position in public life to commanding the state executive until April 2026. See more below.

Retired professor from the Federal Institute of Paraíba (IFPB), João Azevêdo is 73 years old, born in João Pessoa, and is a civil engineer by training, with a postgraduate degree in Technical Education Methodology.

João Azevêdo, from 1986 to 1989, was Secretary of Urban Services at João Pessoa City Hall. In 2004, he was Secretary of Planning at Bayeux City Council. In 2005, he was chief of staff at the Urban Development Secretariat. In the same year, he served as an advisor to the Planning Department and took over the Housing Department, as assistant secretary, where he remained until July 2007.

Still in 2007, he took over the Secretariat of Infrastructure of the Municipality of João Pessoa, remaining until December 2010. In 2011, João Azevêdo took over the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Water Resources, Environment and Science and Technology in 2011, remaining in charge of the department until April 5, 2018.

João Azevêdo ran as a candidate for the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) for the Government of Paraíba and was elected governor, in the first round, in the election held on October 7, 2018. He obtained 1,119,758 votes, which represents 58.18% of the valid votes. He was also re-elected, in 2022, for a second term.

In April, he resigned from his second term to run for senator. With his resignation, vice-governor Lucas Ribeiro took over management.