Report: Voters in Brazil elect record number of women in mayoral races in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO – A Brazilian newspaper says a record number of women have been elected as mayors.

The Folha de S. Paulo reports that more than 11 percent of cities handed over the keys to city hall to female candidates during nationwide municipal elections on Sunday.

Folha's story Monday says 621 women were elected mayor outright. That's up from 504 in the last municipal elections four years ago and from 187 in 1996.

While only a single woman was elected mayor to lead one of the country's 26 state capitals, female candidates performed well in smaller cities.

Brazil imposed quotas on political parties in 1995, requiring that 20 percent of their candidates be women.

In 2010, Brazil elected its first female president, Dilma Rousseff.