If it maintains the performance of the last two general elections, Amapá could be the state that, proportionally, will elect the most among the winners in the elections.
In 2022, 27% of the total number of elected officials were women, the highest percentage in Brazil, with an average of 18%. In 2018, it also beat all other states, with a 30% mark (compared to the country’s average of 16%).
At the other end, it appears among the worst placed in the last two general elections. In 2022, it was next to Mato Grosso do Sul, with 10.8% of women among those elected, the worst figure. In the previous general election, he came second to last, with 8%, losing only to (6%).
The data are from the (Superior Electoral Court) and do not consider changes after the elections that interfered with candidates able to hold office, in the case of those applied in 2025.
Specifically in the Assemblies, the difference in female representation between Amapá and Mato Grosso is evident. Each state has 24 seats. Of this total, 7 are women in the northern state, compared to one in Mato Grosso.
For experts, there is a lack of studies that explain the difference. THE Sheet they weave hypotheses that include culture, history and the late rise as a federative state to try to explain Amapá’s lead.
Teresa Sacchet, professor of political science at UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul) and associated researcher, points out that the difference draws attention because the federation units are covered by the same gender rules. She states that the topic is little explored among researchers and has no consolidated explanation.
For this reason, Sacchet is coordinating a study whose first results should be published in August. The hypothesis is that the difference is due to the actions of the parties in each state, whether in the distribution of resources or the participation of women in decision-making structures, such as directories.
According to Débora Souto, a master’s student in law at Unifap (Federal University of Amapá) with research on the subject, one explanation for Amapá’s better performance could be the fact that it became a state in 1988.
Formerly a federal territory, its first general election under the supervision of the TRE (Regional Electoral Court) only took place in 1994, a period in which the issue of gender was already being discussed, with the .
Another hypothesis is related to two policy profiles in the state that would facilitate ascension. The first is those who inherited family capital, joining the field due to the participation of the men in the family. Another would be women who developed their careers from social movements, such as federal deputy Marcivânia (PC do B).
The congresswoman states that the idea of going into institutional politics came up with professional colleagues. “A group of my fellow professors understood that, to strengthen the category, it was necessary to be in this space.”
Without family members in politics, she first tried to enter the field in 2008, as a candidate for councilor in the city of Santana.
Currently, she is one of two federal deputies in office for Amapá. The office colleague is Fátima Pelaes (Republicans), substitute for Aline Gurgel (Republicans). For Marcivânia, Amapá is at the forefront, but needs to intensify the agenda and provide more opportunities for black and indigenous people.
According to Débora Souto, the possible strategy of men with a tradition in local politics of trying to extend influence through wives and relatives also needs to enter into the equation.
All seven state deputies from Amapá are wives or sisters of politicians with mandates as mayor and councilor or former state deputies and former mayors. In the case of Alliny Serrão (União Brasil), the political tradition came with the family of her husband Márcio Serrão, former mayor of Laranjal do Jari.
Márcio’s father, Jorge Serrão, was a city councilor in the 1990s, a candidate for mayor and state deputy. His mother, Luzimeire, was vice-mayor and state deputy. Alliny states that her entry into institutional politics was due to her husband’s influence, at a time of crisis for the family in the countryside. Her first term was in 2012, as councilor of Laranjal do Jari.
Her husband Márcio, however, ran for the first time later, in 2014, when he was a substitute for state deputy. In 2016, he was elected mayor of the same city by the PRB — and re-elected in the following election.
Alliny claims that family capital did not prevent the distrust that followed her to the presidency of the House. “When I took over the Legislative Assembly, 99.9% of the bets said it wouldn’t work.”
The local culture also weighs heavily on the Amapá scenario, says Fátima Guedes, professor of political science at Unifap. For her, the state has matriarchal characteristics that can partly explain the phenomenon.
The fact that it has one of the smallest electoral colleges may also influence it. “In this smaller-scale context, voters tend to get to know their leaders and trajectories more closely. The community ties maintained are closer, which could also be an advantage for women.”
According to Alzira Nogueira, master in sociology from UFC (Federal University of Ceará), it is also necessary to consider the local history of the state, with important female cadres.
She, who became a substitute state deputy for PSOL in 2022, cites as examples constituent deputy Raquel Capiberibe, who came to assume the state government in 2002, and former vice-governor Dora Nascimento.
According to Mariele Troiano, professor of political science at UFF (Universidade Federal Fluminense), it is already consolidated in the literature that the North and Northeast tend to elect more women, compared to the Central-West.
In the case of Mato Grosso, one hypothesis for low representation is associated with its main economic matrix, agribusiness, “dominated mostly by men from the region”.
This is what Christiany Fonseca, political scientist and professor at IFMT (Federal Institute of Mato Grosso) also thinks. She adds to the calculation the territorial extension of the state (Mato Grosso has a territorial area of more than 900 thousand km², and Amapá, 142 thousand km²), the dispersed electorate and the strong internalization of the vote, which makes the campaign expensive for women who are sometimes overlooked in the distribution of resources by parties.
