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In some Brazilian states - especially in the North and Northeast regions - politics are still dominated by a particular group, commonly a wealthy, long-established family.
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Brazilian Oligarchs often trace the origins of their power to the colonial, and although they have gradually lost political power since de re-democratization- specially after the 2006 elections, which represented a great defeat for some of the strongest groups, such as the Sarney family, from the State of Maranhão, and the Magalhães family, from the State of Bahia, both which were unable to elect their candidates in their respective states, and the Neves/Cunha, from the State of Minas Gerais, that 50 years, all governor elected, was defeated in 2014, by Pimentel.
Although oligarchs are now associated with Northeastern states and politicians, during the Old Republic times the politics were dominated by the wealthy coffee oligarchs from the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The 1929 crisis, the Estado Novo and the urbanization and industrialization of the southeast eventually brought and end for their long-standing legacy. In the still rural and poverty-stricken Northeast, however, they still concentrate richness and power.
The Oligarch families are frequently associated with corruption, control of the local governments, support for the military dictatorship in the past, parallel power, and ownership of the local media and lands.
