General elections were held in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

on 2 December 1945,

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

(2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II'', p173 the first since the establishment of

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; ; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Due to his long and contr ...

' Estado Novo. The presidential elections were won by

Eurico Gaspar Dutra Eurico Gaspar Dutra (; 18 May 1883 – 11 June 1974) was a Brazilian military leader and politician who served as the 16th president of Brazil from 1946 to 1951. He was the first president of the Fourth Brazilian Republic, which followed the V ...

of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(PSD), whilst the PSD also won a majority of seats in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Voter turnout was 83% in the presidential election, 81% in the Chamber elections and 73% in the Senate elections.

Background

Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Vargas was forced by the military to re-democratize the country. However, the military feared that Vargas would suspend the elections like he had suspended the scheduled 1938 elections in 1937 and staged a preventative coup which prematurely removed Vargas from power on 29 October 1945 and installed a caretaker government led by

José Linhares José Linhares (; 28 January 1886 – 26 January 1957)

to ensure the free and fair carry-out of the elections. During this era of liberalization, Vargas founded two parties: the

(PSD), a centre-right party composed primarily of the national industrial bourgeoisie which had supported Vargas and his interventors in the states, and the Brazilian Labour Party (historical), Brazilian Labour Party (PTB) composed of the urban working class and trade union movement. The PSD would become the largest party of the two, although Vargas used the PTB as his personal machine. The PSD consistently had the largest number of deputies until the 1964 military coup. The ''Varguista'' coalition had nominated Vargas' War Minister

earlier in 1945, but the PTB and Vargas offered Dutra's fledgling candidacy only lukewarm support. Vargas' traditional opponents had founded the National Democratic Union (UDN) in April 1945. The UDN, a conservative party defending

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...

through public incentive to foreign capital, was mostly a party of intellectuals and the urban

middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

, as well as the remnants of the oligarchic interests of the '' República Velha''. It nominated the former tenente and

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

brigadier Eduardo Gomes, later known for participating in the 1964 coup, as its presidential candidate. Gomes notably advocated repealing a majority of the social legislation and labour reforms passed during the Vargas rule. The recently legalized

Brazilian Communist Party The Brazilian Communist Party (), originally the Communist Party of Brazil (), is a communist party in Brazil, founded on 25 March 1922. Arguably the oldest active political party in Brazil, it played an important role in the country's 20th- ...

elected 14 deputies, and the party's popular leader,

Luís Carlos Prestes Luís Carlos Prestes (January 3, 1898 – March 7, 1990) was a Brazilian revolutionary and politician who served as the Secretary (title), general-secretary of the Brazilian Communist Party from 1943 to 1980 and a senator for the Federal Distric ...

was elected to the Senate in Guanabara.

, nominated by the PSD and his Brazilian Labour Party (historical), Brazilian Labour Party (PTB) in various states including

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

representing

and

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

as well as elected to the Chamber in six states and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. He opted to accept the Senate seat he won for the PSD (although he supported the PTB) in Rio Grande do Sul. Former President

Artur Bernardes Artur da Silva Bernardes (8 August 1875 – 23 March 1955) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 12th president of Brazil from 1922 to 1926. Bernades' presidency was marked by the crisis of the First Brazilian Republic and th ...

standing for election to the Senate in

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

for the Republican Party was defeated, placing third with 21.4% of the vote.

Results

President

Chamber of Deputies

Senate

In the Senate elections each voter had two votes.Nohlen, p210

References

{{Brazilian elections Parliamentary elections in Brazil Presidential elections in Brazil

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results