Brazil’s epidemic of political violence ahead of municipal elections

On Wednesday afternoon, 50-year-old bartender Valmir Tenório was taking a stroll in the tourist town of Paraty, south of Rio de Janeiro, when he was shot and killed, being survived by his wife and three children. Besides tending bar, Mr. Tenorio was running for city councilor for the second time in the upcoming municipal elections on November 15. The local police have yet to identify a suspect.

Two years ago, Brazil was consumed by a fear of political violence. In March of 2018, Rio de Janeiro City Councilor Marielle Franco was assassinated on her way home from a political event.

Ms. Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes were killed instantly when their vehicle was shot at nine times in the city center. The case remains open. Two members of paramilitary police mafias have been identified as the perpetrators, but it is still unknown who ordered the hit.

Later that year, on the presidential campaign trail, then-candidate Jair Bolsonaro was stabbed in the abdomen during a rally in the Minas Gerais town of Juiz de Fora. The perpetrator was apprehended...