Rodrigo Santos Cunha (born May 11 1981), better known as Rodrigo Cunha, is a Brazilian politician and lawyer, who has served as

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

Alagoas Alagoas () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is ...

since 2019 for the Podemos party, which has an anti-corruption platform. Cunha previously served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alagoas for the centrist

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 ...

, before running a bid for the senate, noted by a striking independence from his party's coalition with the Alagoas politician and former president

Fernando Collor de Mello Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello (; born 12 August 1949) is a Brazilian politician who served as the 32nd president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, when he resigned in a failed attempt to stop his impeachment trial by the Brazilian Senate. Collor ...

, who was impeached in 1992 accused of corruption. Cunha ran for governor in 2022 as a part of the big-tent

Brazil Union The Brazil Union () is a liberal-conservative political party in Brazil. The party was founded on 6 October 2021 through the merger of the Democrats (DEM) and the Social Liberal Party (PSL). The merger resulted in the biggest party in Brazil, ...

party, losing in the second round to Paulo Dantas, but beating out Collor.

Early life and education

Rodrigo Cunha was born on May 11, 1981 in

Arapiraca Arapiraca is a Municipalities of Brazil, Brazilian municipality in the Federative units of Brazil, state of Alagoas, Northeast Region of the country. It is located in Agreste in Alagoas and belongs to the Metropolitan Region of Agreste, being lo ...

to doctor and former Federal Deputy Ceci Cunha and businessman Juvenal Cunha. In 1998, his mother, then a federal deputy along with his father and grandmother, were murdered in a shootout, the crime was ordered by his mother's deputy so that he could take on the position of federal deputy. Cunha has degree in law from UFAL and a postgraduate degree in consumer law from UNIDERP.

Early career

He was Superintendent of PROCON of the State of Alagoas (2008-2015), Vice-President of the State Consumer Protection Council, Vice-President of the Brazilian Association of Procons (2013-2015) and member of the National Commission for Consumer Protection and Access to Justice.

Political career

State deputy (2015-2019)

In the 2014 state elections, he was the best-voted state deputy in Alagoas, with 60,759 votes. He was President of the Information Science and Technology Committee, vice-president of the Administration Committee and member of the Human Rights and Public Security Committee and the Transport, Communication, Services and Public Works Committee.

Senator (2019-present)

Cunha has served as senator since 2019.

2018 Alagoas state elections

In the 2018 state elections, he was elected senator for Alagoas, obtaining 895,738 votes, which corresponds to 34.42% of valid votes. Thus being the most voted Senator in his state. Despite being elected as a member of the

PSDB 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 political party in Brazil. As the formerly third largest party in the National ...

, he ran an independent campaign. At the beginning of the electoral race, he demonstrated dissatisfaction with the coalition made by his party with former president

Fernando Collor Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello (; born 12 August 1949) is a Brazilian politician who served as the 32nd president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, when he resigned in a failed attempt to stop his impeachment trial by the Brazilian Senate. Collor ...

for the dispute for state government and continued campaigning without associating his image with the party's majority ticket.

Tenure

In June 2019, he voted against the government's Weapons Decree, which made carrying and possession more flexible for citizens. In February 2021, he was elected president of the Science, Technology, Innovation, Communication and IT Committee of the Federal Senate of Brazil for the 2021-2022 biennium. Cunha joined the

in 2022, before joining Podemos in 2023.

2022 Alagoas gubernatorial election

In the 2022 elections, Rodrigo Cunha ran for state government, with state deputy Jó Pereira as his vice candidate. He went to the second round against the government candidate,

Paulo Dantas Paulo Suruagy do Amaral Dantas (born 19 March 1979) is a Brazilian politician affiliated with the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), is the current governor of Alagoas. Biography Born in Maceió, the capital city of Alagoas, he is the son o ...

. Although political names from the state who supported his candidacy, such as the mayor of

Maceió Maceió (), formerly anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an Indigenous term for a Spring (hydrology), spring. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped ...

João Henrique Caldas João Henrique Holanda Caldas (born 22 July 1987) often referred to as JHC is a Brazilian politician and lawyer. He has spent his political career representing Alagoas, having served as federal deputy representative since 2011. He is currently th ...

and the president of the Chamber of Deputies,

Arthur Lira Arthur César Pereira de Lira (born 25 June 1969) is a Brazilian lawyer, farmer, entrepreneur and politician. A member of Progressistas (PP), he is a federal deputy for Alagoas, and was President of the Chamber of Deputies from February 2021 to ...

, supported

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

as a candidate for re-election to the presidency, Cunha did not publicly support any candidate, remaining in neutrality. This strategy of neutrality was also employed by other Brazil Union candidates like Silvio Mendes in

Piauí Piauí ( ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP. Piauí has the shortest coastline of any coas ...

and ACM Neto in

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

. Only one governor was elected in the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

who did not support Lula in the second round: Pernambuco's

Raquel Lyra 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 from 2017 to 2022. A member of a political family, she previously served as a membe ...

On October 30, he was defeated in the dispute, having 47.67% of the votes against Dantas' 52.33%.

Personal life

Rodrigo Cunha separated in 2018 from Lavínia Cavalcanti, with whom he was married and had two children, João Juvenal, born in 2008, and Luna Ceci, born in 2011.

Elections

References

, - 1981 births Members of the Federal Senate (Brazil) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunha, Rodrigo Year of death missing 21st-century Brazilian politicians