Who is Jerônimo Rodrigues?
Jerônimo Rodrigues was born in 1965 in Aiquara, Bahia. He is an agronomist and university professor who worked in state and federal rural-development and planning posts before leading the Bahia education secretariat under Rui Costa. He had never held elected office when he won the governorship in 2022. On 4 October 2026 he was re-elected in the first round with more than 55 percent of the valid vote, against about 44 percent for ACM Neto of União Brasil. His running mate was Geraldo Júnior of the MDB, and the new term begins in January 2027.
Previously: Education secretary of Bahia · Helped set up the state Rural Development Secretariat · National secretary for territorial development, Ministry of Agrarian Development (from 2011) · Agronomist and university professor
Documented positions
- His 2026 program prioritises women, older adults, children and workers, the fight against hunger and extreme poverty, and the use of science, technology and AI in public services.Source: cnnbrasil.com.br
- It plans industry in the interior, an energy transition, the Salvador-Itaparica bridge, the VLT light rail, work on the FIOL railway and regionalised public health care.Source: cnnbrasil.com.br
- The bridge is a 12.4 km public-private partnership of about R$ 11 billion, with completion projected for 2031 in the schedule given to the state audit court.Source: agenciainfra.com
- His security plan includes intelligence-led policing, reducing police lethality and the Bahia pela Paz program for vulnerable young people.Source: cnnbrasil.com.br
- In December 2025 he asked the federal government to coordinate a national security action and cited a 7.3 percent fall in violent deaths in the first half of 2025.Source: cnnbrasil.com.br
- In August 2023, after the federal human rights ministry asked for monitoring of police killings in Bahia, he pledged to investigate any excesses.Source: bahianoticias.com.br
- He now says he will press the federal government to expand the FIOL railway and the Porto-Sul complex, projects first proposed by Jaques Wagner in 2010.Source: correio24horas.com.br
Record
His government has relied on large infrastructure projects, the bridge above all, and on federal partnerships. Police lethality is the most contested part of his record: the 19th Brazilian Public Security Yearbook put Bahia second among states for deaths caused by police, while he says violent deaths have fallen. A Folha analysis in September 2026 found that at least 29 of the 80 promises in his program had already appeared in earlier Workers' Party plans. Supporters credit him with continuity in social programs and infrastructure, and critics charge that his government has missed deadlines, such as the bridge works, and has high police lethality.
