General elections were held in Brazil 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 expe ...

(2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II'', p173 the first since the establishment of Getúlio Vargas' Estado Novo. The presidential elections were won by Eurico Gaspar Dutra 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 For ...

(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, 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 Eurico Gaspar Dutra 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 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 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. Comm ...

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

tenente A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often su ...

and Air Force brigadier

Eduardo Gomes Air Marshal Eduardo Gomes (20 September 1896 – 13 June 1981) was a Brazilian politician and military figure. He was born in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Gomes joined the army when he started his course at the Realengo Military Sch ...

, 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 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 1948 ...

was elected to the Senate in Guanabara. Getúlio Vargas, nominated by the PSD and his 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 st ...

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 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 deliber ...

in six states and Rio de Janeiro. 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 standing for election to the Senate in Minas Gerais for the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

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