Planning to use the position of career inspector as an asset in the campaign for the Government of Rio de Janeiro, the state secretary of Cities, (), 37, has spent more time in politics than in the police.
Ruas has held positions for nine years under the influence of his father, Captain Nelson Ruas (PL), mayor of São Gonçalo, and deputy Altineu Côrtes, vice-president of the Chamber which has an electoral base in the city. None of these posts were linked to public security, an issue considered the main one in the state and which the secretary seeks to claim as a flagship due to his link with the Civil Police.
The management secretary (PL) was chosen as a platform for (PL) in Rio de Janeiro, a pre-candidate for the Presidency, after building good political relations with party leaders and mayors in the state.
Ruas was elected for the first time in 2022 as state deputy with the second highest vote (175,977). He obtained a large part (149,576) of the votes of his voters in São Gonçalo, securing 33% of the valid votes in the city, the third largest electoral college in the state.
The secretary’s ascension occurred together with his father, re-elected in 2024 with 84.5% of valid votes, the highest percentage among cities with more than 500 thousand voters. The victory helped Ruas secure a space in the state machine, which expanded his political connections.
As head of the Cities department, Ruas has had frequent contact with mayors across the state, conducting street paving, urban improvements and drainage systems in different municipalities. At the same time, it is carrying out one of the Castro administration’s main investments, a bus corridor in São Gonçalo at a cost of R$320 million.
With the good political momentum built during this period, the tug of war with Felipe Curi, Secretary of Civil Police and delegate for over 20 years, whose popularity exploded after Operation Contenção, in Complexo do Alemão, in October, when 122 people were killed, won, at least for now. Ruas was endorsed by allies PP and União Brasil, who will nominate names for vice and Senate, respectively.
“What made me a name to be considered was my work at the secretariat, which gave me a wide range of institutional relationships with mayors and deputies and gave me the opportunity to get to know the interior of the state”, said Ruas to Sheet.
Despite having obtained the position through politics, Ruas intends to explore in the campaign the fact that he is a civil police officer, in order to present credentials in the area of public security.
“The governor has to know public management and pay attention to all areas. […] Having this public safety background helps me better understand the situation, especially that of our police officers. What they go through and what they think. We see many experts wanting to give their opinion, but no one knows the reality of public security more than our police officers”, he stated.
The secretary has a short career actually working for the corporation: he joined in December 2013 and left in December 2016. During this period, he worked at the 81st DP (Itaipu) and at the Niterói Homicide Police Station.
In 2017, he was transferred to São Gonçalo City Hall for the position of Undersecretary of Labor.
Two years later, he took over the Regional Superintendence of Guanabara Bay at Inea (State Environmental Institute), a body at the time under the influence of Altineu Côrtes. The deputy had campaigned in 2018 together with Captain Nelson in São Gonçalo.
At the beginning of his father’s first term in the city, in 2021, Ruas was appointed municipal secretary of Integrated Management and Special Projects. He became a kind of manager of the city’s main investments, gaining visibility for the future candidacy.
While his father, a former PM officer with a simpler profile, worked on the streets, Douglas, described as more articulate, was responsible for raising funds for investment in the city.
“The task was to create a portfolio of projects and raise funds from the federal and state governments and parliamentarians with amendments. […] During this period I established relationships.”
Elected in October 2022, Ruas spent only nine months in Alerj (Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro). He took over as Secretary of Cities in September 2023. Now, he has accompanied Castro at inaugurations across the state since being chosen to contest the Guanabara Palace in October.
His name, however, has not yet been confirmed as a PL option for the likely buffer mandate following the resignation of the governor, who is expected to leave office in the coming weeks to run for the Senate.
Castro still defends the name of his Secretary of the Civil House, Nicola Miccione, to end the year. The objective is to maintain a close ally in the closure of the government that guarantees it some control over the state machinery during the elections.
Flávio, however, defends that Ruas competes in the indirect election so that he can compete in office, strengthening his platform in the state.
