1950 Brazilian general election

General elections were held in Brazil on 3 October 1950.[1] The presidential elections were won by Getúlio Vargas of the Brazilian Labour Party, whilst the Social Democratic Party remained the largest party in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, although they lost their majority in the former. Voter turnout was 72.1% in the presidential election, 72.0% in the Chamber elections and 77.7% in the Senate elections.[2]

1950 Brazilian general election

3 October 1950
Turnout	72.1% (presidential) 72.0% (chamber) 77.7%% (senate)
Presidential election
Candidate Getúlio Vargas Eduardo Gomes Cristiano Machado Party PTB UDN PSD Popular vote 3,849,040 2,342,384 1,697,193 Percentage 48.7% 29.7% 21.5%
President before election Eurico Gaspar Dutra PSD President-elect Getúlio Vargas PTB
Vice Presidential election
Candidate Café Filho Odilon Braga Altino Marques Party PSP UDN PR Popular vote 2,520,790 2,344,831 1,720,354 Percentage 35.76% 33.26% 24.40%
Vice President before election Nereu Ramos PSD President-elect Café Filho PSP
Legislative election
Party Leader % Seats ± Chamber of Deputies (304 Seats) PSD Nereu Ramos 27.0 112 -39 UDN Prado Kelly 17.0 81 0 PTB Getúlio Vargas 16.5 51 +29 PSP Adhemar de Barros 7.3 24 New PR Arthur Bernardes 2.8 11 +2 PST 2.1 9 New NLP 2.8 5 New PL 0.7 5 +4 PRP Plínio Salgado 0.9 2 0 PDC 0.7 2 0 LRP 1.0 1 New PSB 0.5 1 New Senate (22 Seats) PSD Nereu Ramos 15.4 6 -19 PTB Otávio Mangabeira 10.5 5 +2 UDN Prado Kelly 9.6 4 -8 PSP Adhemar de Barros 6.7 3 +3 PR Arthur Bernardes 7.3 2 +2 PST 1.6 1 New PSB 0.2 1 New This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Background

After living in self-imposed exile in his Riograndense ranch between his overthrow in 1945 and 1950, former President Getúlio Vargas, who had already been elected a senator in 1945, decided to run for the Presidency, as the candidate of the Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), one of the two he founded after he decided to put an end to his 15-year dictatorship. Vargas, although in exile, remained active on the sidelines of Brazilian politics during the Presidency of his former War Minister, Eurico Gaspar Dutra. He notably criticized his successor's economic policies, taking a hard nationalist and populist tone which appealed to the base of the PTB, organized labour.

In April 1950, the Social Democratic Party, also pro-Vargas but based more around industrialists and state political machines, rejected the idea of forming a coalition with the PTB or the UDN and decided to run its own candidate. They nominated Cristiano Machado, a little-known congressman for Minas Gerais.

However, Vargas was able to forge an alliance with a number of PSD state leaders, notably in his own state of Rio Grande do Sul and in Rio de Janeiro. In Pernambuco, he even forged an alliance with his traditional rivals, the UDN. This phenomenon - to nominate a candidate and support another - became known as "cristianization" in Brazil. In the state of São Paulo, he forged an alliance with Adhemar de Barros' Social Progressive Party (PSP), a populist electoral machine who dominated state politics. The PSP was the only other party to officially endorse him, and provided him with his running-mate (who was separately elected), João Café Filho. Vargas also assured himself of the support, or at least approval, of the military which had deposed him in 1945. He reconciled himself with the dominant figure of the military then, Góes Monteiro, who had played a role in his 1945 overthrow.[3]

The right-wing National Democratic Union (UDN), noted for its radical anti-Vargas posture, once again nominated Eduardo Gomes as its candidate. The party proved woefully unable to expand its narrow electoral base, and not even the anti-Vargas rhetoric of 1945 could deliver more votes. The UDN and Gomes also proved their little comprehension of the evolving Brazilian political scene by supporting abolishing the minimum wage instituted in Vargas' past administration.[4]

During the Eurico Gaspar Dutra administration, the Brazilian Communist Party had its license revoked by the Superior Electoral Court in the context of the early Cold War. Communists oriented their followers not to vote, but a significant share of them voted on Vargas.

Presidential candidates

• Former President Getúlio Vargas of Rio Grande do Sul (PTB)
• Former Air Minister Eduardo Gomes of Rio de Janeiro (UDN)
• Congressman Cristiano Machado of Minas Gerais (PSD)
• João Mangabeira (PSB)

Results

President

Vargas won a convincing victory, with 48.7% of the vote and close to an absolute majority of votes cast. Despite the UDN's claim that he was not constitutionally elected (they claimed that a candidate needed an absolute majority of the votes), Vargas was inaugurated President in January 1951.[5]

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Getúlio Vargas	Brazilian Labour Party	3,849,040	48.7
Eduardo Gomes	National Democratic Union	2,342,384	29.7
Cristiano Machado	Social Democratic Party	1,697,193	21.5
João Mangabeira	Brazilian Socialist Party	9,466	0.1
Invalid/blank votes		356,906	–
Total		8,254,989	100
Registered voters/turnout		11,455,149	72.1
Source: Nohlen

Vice-President

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Café Filho	PSP-PTB	2,520,790	35.76
Odilon Braga	National Democratic Union	2,344,831	33.26
Altino Arantes	Republican Party	1,720,354	24.40
Vitorino Freire	Social Labour Party	453,134	6.43
Alípio Correia Neto	Brazilian Socialist Party	10,800	0.15
Total		7,049,909	100

Chamber of Deputies

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Social Democratic Party	2,068,405	27.0	112
National Democratic Union	1,301,489	17.0	81
Brazilian Labour Party	1,262,000	16.5	51
Social Progressive Party	558,792	7.3	24
PSD-PRP-PST	245,543	3.2	–
UDN-PR-PSP-PDC-PSB	240,537	3.1	–
Republican Party	216,207	2.8	11
National Labor Party	211,090	2.8	5
UDN-PR-PRP-PDC-PTB-PL	176,432	2.3	–
Social Labour Party	163,341	2.1	9
PSD-PL	144,024	1.9	–
UDN-PST	103,368	1.3	–
UDN-PR	110,733	1.4	–
PSD-PR-PSP	94,630	1.2	–
UDN-PSP-PL-PST	86,326	1.1	–
PTB-PSP	84,467	1.1	–
UDN-PR-PST-PRP-PL	83,530	1.1	–
Labour Republican Party	73,501	1.0	1
Party of Popular Representation	72,397	0.9	2
UDN-PSD-PR-PL-PSP-PTB	67,983	0.9	–
Christian Democratic Party	56,965	0.7	2
Liberator Party	55,338	0.7	5
Brazilian Socialist Party	36,638	0.5	1
Others	148,477	1.9	0
Invalid/blank votes	578,783	–	–
Total	8,240,996	100	304
Registered voters/turnout	11,445,149	72.0	–
Source: Nohlen

Senate

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Social Democratic Party	1,204,349	15.4	6
Brazilian Labour Party	814,796	10.5	5
National Democratic Union	749,989	9.6	4
Republican Party	566,520	7.3	2
Social Progressive Party	524,261	6.7	3
Party of Popular Representation	244,769	3.1	0
Social Labour Party	126,437	1.6	1
Liberator Party	88,614	1.1	0
Labour-Guiding Party	56,180	0.7	0
Labour Republican Party	46,325	0.6	0
Brazilian Socialist Party	15,458	0.2	1
Others	3,358,438	43.1	0
Invalid/blank votes	1,084,313	–	–
Total	8,880,449	100	22
Registered voters/turnout	11,427,441	77.7	–
Source: Nohlen

References

1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p173 ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3
2. Nohlen, pp191-232
3. Skidmore, TE: Politics in Brazil: 1930-1964, page 75. Oxford University Press, 2007.
4. Skidmore, TE: Politics in Brazil: 1930-1964, page 77. Oxford University Press, 2007.
5. Skidmore, TE: Politics in Brazil: 1930-1964, page 101. Oxford University Press, 2007.