Wilson José Witzel (born 19 February 1968) is a Brazilian politician and lawyer who was the 63rd Governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro.

On 28 October 2018, he was elected Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro with a four-year term beginning in January 2019, replacing Luiz Fernando Pezão,[1] until his impeachment in April 2021.

[7][8] Witzel initially polled at just 1%, tied with André Monteiro (PRTB), Dayse Oliveira (PSTU) and Marcelo Trindade (NOVO), and was only ahead of Luiz Eugênio Honorato (PCO).

He was behind Romário (PODE), Eduardo Paes (DEM), Anthony Garotinho (PRP), Tarcísio Motta (PSOL), Indio da Costa (PSD), Pedro Fernandes (PDT) and Marcia Tiburi (PT).

He was thus elected Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro for a term of 4 years starting January 2019; his opponent, Eduardo Paes, from DEM, received 3,134,400 votes or 40.13%.

[22][24][25] In September 2019, following the killing of an eight-year-old girl, hundreds protested in anger in the Complexo do Alemão favela where she was shot, and the hashtag "#aculpaedowitzel" (Portuguese: A culpa é do Witzel, lit.