General elections were held in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

on 2 December 1945, Dieter Nohlen (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 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Brazi ...

' 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 ...

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 Fo ...

(PSD), whilst the PSD also won a majority of seats in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Voter turnout was 83.1% in the presidential election, 83.5% in the Chamber elections and 76.7% in the Senate elections.

Background

Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, 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 preventive coup which prematurely removed Vargas from power on October 29, 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 Vargas' interventors in the states, and the 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 ''Vargista'' 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 liberali ...

through public incentive to

foreign capital In economics, capital goods or capital are "those durable produced goods that are in turn used as productive inputs for further production" of goods and services. At the macroeconomic level, "the nation's capital stock includes buildings, eq ...

, was mostly a party of intellectuals and the urban middle-class, as well as the remnants of the oligarchic interests of the ''

República Velha The First Brazilian Republic, also referred to as the Old Republic ( pt, República Velha ), officially the Republic of the United States of Brazil, refers to the period of Brazilian history from 1889 to 1930. The Old Republic began with the d ...

''. 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 ...

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 ( pt-BR, Partido Comunista Brasileiro), originally the Communist Party of Brazil (), is a communist party in Brazil founded on 25 March 1922 which makes the disputed claim of being the oldest political party sti ...

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 general-secretary of the Brazilian Communist Party from 1943 to 1980 and a senator for the Federal District from 1946 to 19 ...

was elected to the Senate in Guanabara.

, nominated by the PSD and his Brazilian Labour Party (PTB) in various states including Rio Grande do Sul was elected to the Senate representing Rio Grande do Sul and

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

as well as elected to the

Chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations * Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics * Debate chamber, the space or room that houses delib ...

in six states and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. 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 politician who served as 12th president of Brazil during the First Brazilian Republic. Born in Viçosa, Minas Gerais, he was elected Governor of Minas Gerais in 1918. ...

standing for election to the Senate in

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

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 General elections in Brazil

1945 in Brazil December 1945 events in South America Election and referendum articles with incomplete results