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The wives of two jailed opposition mayors won Sunday in snap elections to replace their husbands giving hope to followers that the flagging nationwide protest movement still has life.

The former mayors were unseated after President Nicolás Maduro accused the local leaders of instigating the antigovernment marches that first erupted in February.

Their wives, who admit to being novices on the political stage, nonetheless steamrolled to victory in their respective opposition bastions. Patricia Ceballos won the mayoral seat with 74% of the votes in the western Andean city of San Cristobal, where the protest movement took root before spreading nationwide, while Rosa Scarano won with 87% of votes in San Diego, located in central Venezuela.

The result is little more than a symbolic victory for Mr. Maduro's detractors as both sides remain in a tenuous standoff after more than three months of off-and-on demonstrations that have cost at least 42 lives. Protests began by addressing rampant crime before taking on corruption as well as economic woes like high inflation and frequent shortages of basic goods.

Sunday's vote is unlikely to change the political landscape. Mr. Maduro, the successor of late leftist firebrand Hugo Chávez, has emerged mostly unshaken with the help of soldiers to put down the unrest, while the opposition is split over its next step as the protest movement shows signs of fatigue.

The detention of Daniel Ceballos and his San Diego counterpart Enzo Scarano has become a rallying cry for the president's rivals who say the action unmasks Mr. Maduro's increasingly authoritarian regime. Both local leaders were convicted in speedy trials by the Supreme Court for failing to comply with orders to dismantle roadblocks set up by street activists and for allegedly encouraging rebellion.

The president calls that evidence of rivals seeking to topple his government and has responded with a heavy hand. In addition to the mayors, Leopoldo Lopez, a charismatic opposition leader and head of the Popular Will party, has been held in a military prison outside of Caracas for more than three months.

"We won by a greater margin than last time. This country won't take more deception. Here comes freedom," Popular Will said in a message on Twitter,TWTR +0.03% celebrating the election result.

Mrs. Ceballos and Mrs. Scarano say they intend to carry forward their predecessors' policies.

"I've always been at Daniel's side since we were university sweethearts...I know very well his leadership, his ideas, his vision," Mrs. Ceballos said in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal.

The 30-year-old mother of three said she is working with Mr. Ceballos's advisers and is wary of what she called "efforts by the government to make us seem like criminals." Her husband, who she says is a political prisoner, remains involved, albeit from his cell, where she says he is occupying himself by learning to cook with the help of an electric stove that his family was allowed to provide him.

In a televised address earlier Sunday, Mr. Maduro said he would welcome whoever wins the elections but delivered a stern warning.

"Anyone who violates the law and tries to use their positions as mayor, governor, or congressman to break the law and help elements of the country disregard the constitution, they will meet their fate," he said before promising that a "cold cell" was awaiting any agitators.