Antônio Anastasia

Antônio Augusto Junho Anastasia (Belo Horizonte, May 9, 1961) is a Brazilian lawyer and politician, affiliated to the Social Democratic Party. He graduated with a bachelor's and later a master's from the Federal University of Minas Gerais's Law School. [1]

His Excellency Antônio Augusto Anastasia
Senator for Minas Gerais
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 February 2015
First Vice President of the Senate
In office 6 February 2019 – 2 February 2021
President	Davi Alcolumbre
Preceded by	Cássio Cunha Lima
Succeeded by	Veneziano Vital do Rêgo
Governor of Minas Gerais
In office 31 March 2010 – 4 April 2014
Vice Governor	Alberto Pinto Coelho
Preceded by	Aécio Neves
Succeeded by	Alberto Pinto Coelho
Vice Governor of Minas Gerais
In office 1 January 2007 – 31 March 2010
Governor	Aécio Neves
Preceded by	Clésio Andrade
Succeeded by	Alberto Pinto Coelho
Minister of Labour Acting
In office 31 March 1998 – 6 April 1998
President	Fernando Henrique
Preceded by	Paulo de Tarso
Succeeded by	Edward Swaeden
Personal details
Born	(1961-05-09) 9 May 1961 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Nationality	Brazilian
Political party	PSD (2020–present)
Other political affiliations	PSDB (2005–2020)
Alma mater	Federal University of Minas Gerais

He started his career in academia, working as a Law professor in the Milton Campos Law School and in the João Pinheiro Foundation. In 1993, he was approved in a competitive examination from his alma mater, UFMG, and was invested as a tenured Administrative Law professor. However, since 1988, Anastasia was involved with politics serving as an advisor to state deputy Bonifácio Mourão during the period the State Legislative Assembly worked as a Constitutional Assembly, after the end of Brazil's 20-year old Military Dictatorship. [2]

During the administration of governor Hélio Garcia (1991-1994) he occupied several administrative posts, such as deputy-secretary of Planning and General Coordination, secretary of Culture, secretary of Human Resources and Management, and president of the João Pinheiro Foundation. From 1995 to 1998, he served as the deputy-minister of Labor in the administration of president Fernando Henrique Cardoso. [3]

He was invited by then governor Aécio Neves to be replace Clésio Andrade as his running mate for the 2006 election. Therefore, Anastasia served as vice governor of Minas Gerais from 2007 to 2010. In March 2010, Neves resigned to run for the Senate and Anastasia assumed the office of governor, serving the remainder of his predecessor's term.[4] From 2011, Anastasia served as the elected governor of the state of Minas Gerais, a post he kept up to March 2014, when following his predecessor's example he resigned to run for the Senate. [5]

After an unsuccessful campaign to be elected governor again in 2018, Anastasia kept his seat in the Senate. In 2019, he was picked by his peers to be the first vice president of the Senate for the biennium 2019-2020. [6]

Anastasia announced he would disaffiliate with the PSDB and join the similarly named PSD in an effort to distance himself from his patron and former running mate Aécio Neves, involved in corruption scandals. [7] That move would disqualify him were he a federal deputy, but as elections for the Senate are not proportional to the share of votes received by each party he was allowed to keep his seat. [8]