1955 Brazilian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Brazil on 3 October 1955.[1] The result was a victory for Juscelino Kubitschek, who received 35.7% of the vote. Voter turnout was 59.7%.[2]

1955 Brazilian presidential election

3 October 1955

Candidate Juscelino Kubitschek Juarez Távora Party PSD UDN Home state Minas Gerais Ceará Running mate João Goulart Milton Campos Popular vote 3,077,411 2,610,462 Percentage 35.7% 30.3%   Candidate Adhemar de Barros Plínio Salgado Party PSP PRP Home state São Paulo São Paulo Popular vote 2,222,897 714,353 Percentage 25.8% 8.3%

President before election Nereu Ramos PSD Elected President Juscelino Kubitschek PSD

Background

After the suicide of Getúlio Vargas, his Vice President João Café Filho took office. Prior to Vargas' death, Brazil was living a time of intense political division, with the right-wing opposition National Democratic Union (UDN), high-level military officers and the mass media openly trying to depose him following the attempted assassination of right-wing journalist Carlos Lacerda, allegedly ordered by Vargas.

Juscelino Kubitschek, then Governor of Minas Gerais and a member of the pro-Vargas Social Democratic Party (PSD) announced his candidacy and built an alliance with the popular left-wing populist João Goulart of Vargas' Brazilian Labour Party (PTB), who was Vargas' former Minister of Labour and personal friend and who became cherished by the workers after granting a 100% increase in the minimum wage. A PSD-PTB coalition was then formed, with Kubitscheck as the presidential candidate and Goulart as his running mate.

The UDN, which wanted to do a more moderate and centrist image launched the candidacy of Juarez Távora, an old military officer. The party formed a multi-party coalition in order to defeat the PSD-PTB coalition, a coalition which included the Republican Party and the Christian Democratic Party.

The Social Progressive Party (PSP) candidate was its leader, the populist former São Paulo Governor Adhemar de Barros. The PSP had supported Vargas in 1950, helping him win, but Adhemar was known to have presidential ambitions of his own.

Also on the right, Plínio Salgado of the minor Party of Popular Representation (PRP) ran for President. Salgado was known for being the leader of Brazilian Integralism in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Integralismo was a far right movement described as a Brazilian branch of fascism.

During the campaign, Luís Carlos Prestes, leader of then illegal Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) recommended the tactical vote for the Kubitschek-Goulart ticket, an incident which increased the communist denunciations of the UDN and the media against the PSD-PTB campaign.

Candidates

• Governor Juscelino Kubitschek of Minas Gerais (PSD)
• Former Agriculture Minister Juarez Távora of Ceará (UDN)
• Former Governor Adhemar de Barros of São Paulo (PSP)
• Plínio Salgado (PRP)

Results

President

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Juscelino Kubitschek	Social Democratic Party	3,077,582	35.7
Juarez Távora	National Democratic Union	2,610,534	30.3
Adhemar de Barros	Social Progressive Party	2,222,897	25.8
Plínio Salgado	Party of Popular Representation	714,353	8.3
Invalid/blank votes		471,085	–
Total		9,097,014	100
Registered voters/turnout		15,243,246	59.7
Source: Nohlen

Vice-President

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
João Goulart	Brazilian Labour Party-Social Democratic Party	3,591,267	44.26
Milton Campos	National Democratic Union	3,383,525	41.70
Danton Coelho	Social Progressive Party	1,139,153	14.04
Total		8,113,945	100

References

1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p173 ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3
2. Nohlen, p232