| Mário Covas | |
| Office: | Governor of São Paulo |
| Term Start: | 1 January 1995 |
| Term End: | 6 March 2001 |
| Vicegovernor: | Geraldo Alckmin |
| Predecessor: | Luiz Fleury Filho |
| Successor: | Geraldo Alckmin |
| Office2: | Senator for São Paulo |
| Term Start2: | 1 February 1987 |
| Term End2: | 1 January 1995 |
| Predecessor2: | Amaral Furlan |
| Successor2: | Romeu Tuma |
| Office3: | Mayor of São Paulo |
| Term Start3: | 11 May 1983 |
| Term End3: | 1 January 1986 |
| Predecessor3: | Francisco Altino Lima (acting) |
| Successor3: | Jânio Quadros |
| Office4: | Member of the Chamber of Deputies |
| Term Start4: | 1 February 1983 |
| Term End4: | 11 May 1983 |
| Constituency4: | São Paulo |
| Term Start5: | 1 February 1963 |
| Term End5: | 16 January 1969 |
| Constituency5: | São Paulo |
| Birth Date: | 21 April 1930 |
| Birth Place: | Santos, São Paulo, Brazil |
| Death Place: | São Paulo, Brazil |
| Death Cause: | Bladder cancer |
| Relatives: | Bruno Covas (grandson) |
| Alma Mater: | University of São Paulo (B.E.) |
| Profession: | Civil engineer |
| Signature: | Mario Covas.jpg |
Mário Covas Almeida Júnior (pronounced as /pt/; 21 April 1930 – 6 March 2001) was a Brazilian politician.
Covas studied engineering at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo. He entered politics in his native city of Santos, in the state of São Paulo.
He was elected federal representative, mayor of São Paulo City (1983–1985), senator and twice Governor of the state of São Paulo. He was governor from 1994 to 1998, defeating Francisco Rossi in the run-off, and from 1998, defeating Paulo Maluf in the run-off, to his death in 2001. He was a founder and member of PMDB (Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement) and later PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party). In 1989, he was the PSDB presidential candidate, receiving 11% of the votes. In the run-off of that election, he supported, like his party, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
He took a medical leave of absence on 22 January 2001, due to bladder cancer found during an operation to remove a prostate tumor.[1] He died later the same year. His successor was his deputy, Geraldo Alckmin.
| Party | Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| PSDB | Mário Covas | 6,574,517 | 46.84 | 8,661,960 | 56.12 | |
| PDT | Francisco Rossi | 3,119,592 | 22.23 | 6,771,454 | 43.88 | |
| PT | José Dirceu | 2,085,193 | 14.86 | Eliminated | ||
| PMDB | Barros Munhoz | 1,584,397 | 11.29 | Eliminated | ||
| PP | Luiz Antônio Medeiros | 317,593 | 2.26 | Eliminated | ||
| PRONA | Álvaro Soares Dutra | 144,196 | 1.03 | Eliminated | ||
| PSC | Eduardo Resstom | 134,064 | 0.95 | Eliminated | ||
| PRN | Ciro Moura | 75,727 | 0.54 | Eliminated | ||
| Total votes | 14,035,279 | 100.00% | 15,433,414 | 100.00% | ||
| Invalid and blank votes | 4,377,969 | 23.78% | 2,315,122 | 13.04% | ||
| PSDB gain from PMDB | ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| PSDB | Mário Covas | 3,813,186 | 22.95 | 9,800,253 | 55.37 | |
| PPB | Paulo Maluf | 5,351,026 | 32.21 | 7,900,598 | 44.63 | |
| PT | Marta Suplicy | 3,738,750 | 22.51 | Eliminated | ||
| PDT | Francisco Rossi | 2,843,515 | 17.18 | Eliminated | ||
| PMDB | Orestes Quércia | 714,097 | 4.30 | Eliminated | ||
| PRONA | Constantino Cury | 68,906 | 0.41 | Eliminated | ||
| PSTU | Antônio Donizete | 29,033 | 0.18 | Eliminated | ||
| PSDC | João Manuel Batista | 24,229 | 0.15 | Eliminated | ||
| PSC | Edson Falanga | 14,853 | 0.09 | Eliminated | ||
| PRTB | Levy Fidelix | 14,406 | 0.08 | Eliminated | ||
| Total votes | 16,612,001 | 100.00% | 17,700,851 | 100.00% | ||
| Invalid and blank votes | 2,858,536 | 14.68% | 1,473,216 | 7.68% | ||
| PSDB hold | ||||||
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