Raquel Teixeira Lyra Lucena (born 2 December 1978) is a Brazilian lawyer, politician and the current governor of Pernambuco since 2023. Lyra was mayor of

Caruaru Caruaru is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the States of Brazil, state of Pernambuco. The most populous city in the interior of the state, Caruaru is located in the microzone of Agreste and because of its cultural importance ...

from 2017 to 2022. A member of a political family, she previously served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Pernambuco. She is affiliated to the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(PSD), but was a member of the

Brazilian Social Democracy Party The Brazilian Social Democracy Party (, PSDB), also known as the Brazilian Social Democratic Party or the Party of Brazilian Social Democracy,. is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Brazil. As the formerly third largest p ...

(PSDB).

Early career

Lyra was born to João Lyra Neto, the former mayor of Caruaru and Governor of Pernambuco, and Mércia Lyra, daughter of the former mayor of Caruaru João Lyra Filho and niece of

Itamar Franco Itamar Augusto Cautiero Franco (; 28 June 19302 July 2011) was a Brazilian politician who served as the 33rd president of Brazil from 29 December 1992 to 1 January 1995. Previously, he was the 21st vice president of Brazil from 1990 until the ...

's Minister of Justice Fernando Soares Lyra. Lyra was elected to the state legislative of Pernambuco in the 2010 elections with 49,610 votes. Lyra was reelected in 2014 with around 80,000 votes, being the most voted state representative in that election. Lyra was elected mayor of her hometown Caruaru in 2017 with 53.15% of the vote. She is the first woman to be elected as a mayor of Caruaru.

Governor of Pernambuco

In 31 March 2022 she resigned to the office of mayor of

in order to run in the 2022 Pernambuco gubernatorial election as a candidate. She finished the first round of the elections in the second place, with 20.58% of the valid votes, and advanced to a run-off in the second round with Marília Arraes, a member of Solidariedade. Raquel was elected governor of Pernambuco on 30 October 2022, after obtaining 58.70% of the valid votes in the second round and defeating Marília Arraes, who obtained 41.30% of the votes. She is the first female governor of the state of Pernambuco.

Personal life

Lyra is the daughter of former mayor of Caruaru and former Governor of Pernambuco João Lyra Neto. She is the widow of Fernando Lucena who died on the day of the first round of the

2022 Brazilian general election General elections were held in Brazil on 2 October 2022 to elect the President of Brazil, president, Vice President of Brazil, vice president, the National Congress of Brazil, National Congress, the 2022 Brazilian gubernatorial elections, govern ...

. She has two sons: Fernando Jr. and João.

Electoral history

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyra, Raquel 1978 births Living people People from Caruaru Social Democratic Party (Brazil, 2011) politicians Members of the Legislative Assembly of Pernambuco Women mayors of places in Brazil Politicians from Recife 21st-century Brazilian politicians 21st-century Brazilian women politicians Mayors of places in Brazil Women state governors of Brazil