Political representation of morality:

religious city councilors seeking reelection

Abstract

This article analyzes the dynamics of political representation among players in the religious field in contemporary Brazil. To do this, it takes as a corpus of analysis the 2020 reelection campaigns for the City Council of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, of two city councilors: the evangelical woman committed to the Assemblies of God, Priscila Costa, member of the Christian Social Party (Partido Social Cristão [PSC]), and the charismatic Catholic man Jorge Pinheiro, member of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira [PSDB]). By addressing themes from the moral agenda (abortion, family, gender ideology, among others), the  two city councilors have been effective cases of conservative mobilization of fractions of society that take some religious grammar as a basis to legitimize their action in the public sphere. Analyzing their legislative works and, above all, their campaign platforms on social media, we present a view of the relationship between religion and politics in the contemporary Brazilian scenario based on the competition for Legislative Power in the capital city of the State of Ceará.