José Targino Maranhão (6 September 1933 – 8 February 2021) was a Brazilian politician who served as governor and senator of Paraíba.

[1] Started his political career as an elected state representative in 1955 for PTB, a party for which he was reelected for two consecutive mandates.

In 2006, the government again disputed Maranhão Paraíba, this time against the governor Cassio Cunha Lima, who was elected in a runoff for re-election with about 51% of the vote.

[2] After confirmation by the Superior Electoral Court the forfeiture of Cunha Lima in 2008 by Regional Electoral Court of Paraíba for the misuse of social programs in an election year, Jose Maranhao is re-elected on 17 February 2009 by Palace of Redemption as the state governor, for being the runner-up in the 2006 elections.

Governor for the third time Paraíba, Maranhão compete again for the post of governor of the state elections of 2010, seeking his fourth term, but is eventually defeated in the second round again, this time by the former mayor of Joao Pessoa and his former political ally Ricardo Coutinho of PSB who obtained 53.70% of the votes against 46.30% José Maranhão.