Cleitinho Azevedo (Republicans) during voting in Divinópolis, this Sunday (4) — Photo: Reproduction/TV Globo
The elected governor of Minas Gerais, Cleiton Gontijo de Azevedo - Cleitinho (Republicans), was born in Divinópolis, in the Central-West region of the state, on April 15, 1982. He was elected to head the Minas Gerais Executive in the first round of the 2026 elections, at the age of 44, 8 years after generating the first controversy in the capital by asking to have a shower and bed in the office at the Legislative Assembly, when he was elected deputy state. Understand more below.
Cleitinho began his professional life dividing himself between his duties at the family's grocery store [a business that sells fruit and vegetables] and his career as a musician at events in the city. Videos published on social media began to give him popularity. And it was by mixing music videos with those criticizing the Divinópolis administration that he was encouraged to enter politics.
At the age of 33, in 2015, Cleitinho registered as a voter and, in 2016, ran for councilor of Divinópolis. The first vote in life was for himself.
He took office at the Divinópolis City Council in January 2017, through the PPS. But he didn't complete 2 years in the position. In the 2018 elections he was elected state deputy, also for the PPS, taking office in January 2019.
In the next general election, in 2022, he was higher. He ran for the Senate, now for the PSC, and was elected. Cleitinho did not resign or step aside from his position as senator to run for government of Minas. With his election to the State Executive, he serves half of the legislature in the Senate, since the position of senator is for 8 years.
First electoral campaign
Cleitinho's first saint, in the 2016 Elections, when he was elected councilor in Divinópolis — Photo: TV Integração/Reproduction
Cleitinho's first electoral campaign, in 2016, cost just R$1,060. And he already pointed to a formula that would be a hallmark of his political activity: the intense use of the internet and anti-system discourse.
Cleitinho was the third best-voted councilor in 2016 in Divinópolis, with 3,023 votes. In two years, he presented 35 bills, and 16 of them were approved.
It became even more popular with the increase in the production of whistleblowing videos on the internet.
Assembly of Mines
The videos took Cleitinho to new challenges. Now in Belo Horizonte. In 2018, he was elected state deputy, with more than 115 thousand votes.
In the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais (ALMG), Cleitinho's speech was political reform and the end of deputies' privileges. He was even criticized by peers. He also generated controversy when he asked to install a shower and a bed in his office, even before taking office.
"I'm going to continue living in my city, in Divinópolis, which is an hour and a half drive from Belo Horizonte. But, if I need to sleep in the capital, I'll sleep in the office. That's why I asked to install a shower and put a bed for me," he said at the time.
Cleitinho gave up the housing allowance offered by ALMG, which in 2019 was R$4,377.
With his work in the Assembly of Minas, popular communication and the intense use of videos on social networks, Cleitinho became known throughout the country.
Senate
In 2022, he took a new step in his career, now in the federal capital. He was elected senator, with more than 4.2 million votes.
At the national level, some controversies stood out, such as his criticism of the trial of those involved in the coup acts of January 8 and of the Superior Federal Court (STF).
In 2026, he was heavily criticized on social media for taking a photo and video with influencer Virginia Fonseca during the Bets Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI).
After the great national repercussion, he apologized for the episode.
"I was an idiot. It wasn't the time. My daughter asked me and I was impulsive. I regretted it."
In the Senate, among the projects presented, the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) was approved, which provides for the end of payment of Motor Vehicle Ownership Tax (IPVA) for vehicles with more than 20 years of manufacture.
Application confirmed in the last minute
After back and forth, with confirmations of candidacy for the Minas government by Cleitinho and confirmations of non-candidacy by the national directory, the ticket was only confirmed at the last moment.
State and national executives of the party even reported, on July 29, that the senator's absence from the state convention "represented an objective political fact, which produced inevitable consequences."
A week before the state convention, Cleitinho lost his younger brother. Matheus Augusto Azevedo died on July 18, in Divinópolis, in the Center-West of Minas Gerais. He was undergoing treatment for leukemia.
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