[3] First affiliated with the Workers' Party (PT), Neves was a councilman in Niterói beginning in April 1998, assuming the position as a substitute to João Batista Petersen Mendes, who died that year.

[6] In 2011, Neves became the state secretary of Social Assistance and Human Rights, and was reelected as mayor in 2012 with 132,001 (52.55%) votes, defeating Felipe Peixoto [pt] of the PDT in the runoff.

[7] In 2015, he left the PT and then affiliated himself with the Green Party (PV) in anticipation for the 2016 election, winning reelection as mayor in a rematch against Felipe Peixoto (PSB) and state deputy Flavio Serafini (PSOL).

[9][10] At the end of 2017, he again left the PV and subsequently affiliated with the PDT to assume a position with the coordinating campaign of Ciro Gomes for his 2018 presidential run.

[13][14] On 23 July 2022, Neves officially became the PDT candidate for the gubernatorial election in Rio de Janeiro that year, with the former president of the Order of Attorneys of Brazil Felipe Santa Cruz [pt] as his vice-governor pick.

[20] On 10 December 2018, Neves was arrested as part of Operação Alameda due to corruption accusations and the creation of organized crime groups in a supposed scheme that would involve bribery payments by business owners from the transport industry and public agents from the city.

The complaint was an outgrowth of Operation Car Wash investigations in the state, where the MPF-RJ shared the denunciations from business owners and defendant Marcelo Traça, ex-president of transport administration agency Fetranspor, who made the confession, and for proof authorized by the courts.

[22][21][24] In December 2020, the Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) denounced Neves and 8 other people for corruption and defrauding the city's procurement program.