Brazilian legislative election, 2010

Brazilian parliamentary election, 2010
Brazil
October 3, 2010

All 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 54 out of 81 seats in the Federal Senate
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Fernando Ferro Henrique Eduardo Alves João Almeida
dos Santos
Party PT PMDB PSDB
Alliance PBSM PBSM BPM
Last election 83 seats, 16.2% 89 seats, 17.3% 66 seats, 12.8%
Seats won 88 79 53
Seat change +5 –10 –13
Popular vote 16,289,199 12,537,252 11,477,380
Percentage 16.9 % 13.0 % 11.9 %

The 2010 Brazilian parliamentary election was held on Sunday, October 3, as part of the country's general election. On that date, 54 of the 81 seats in the Federal Senate and all 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies were up for election.

This election was marked by the advance of the Lulista bloc, gathered around the For Brazil to keep on changing coalition, in the National Congress. On the other hand, the centre-right opposition, gathered around the Brazil can do more coalition, lost seats in both houses.

Election information

According to the Constitution, each state is represented by three Senators elected by a majority of the votes. They are directly elected to an eight-year term, and there is no limit on the number of terms a Senator may serve. Alternating, one third and then two thirds of the seats are up for election every four years. In 2006, one third of the seats were up for election and thus in 2010 two thirds of the seats were up for election, corresponding to two of the Senators elected by each one of the 26 Brazilian states and the Federal District.

The Chamber of Deputies represent the people of each state, and its members are elected by a system of proportional representation, due to federalism being adopted as the form of government in the country. Federal deputies are elected for a four-year term, and there is no limit on the number of terms a deputy may serve.

Election results

Election campaign team of Sávio Neves, candidate in Rio de Janeiro

In 2010, 22 of the country's 27 registered political parties were able to elect at least one representative in the Chamber, while 15 were able to elect at least one Senator.

As a result of the so-called "Red Wave",[1] the Workers' Party (PT) became the largest party in the Chamber for the first time ever with 88 deputies, and elected Marco Maia as President of the lower house.[2] Collectively, its coalition, For Brazil to keep on changing, elected 311 deputies.[3] Four parties in the coalition lost seats; the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), Brazilian Republican Party (PRB), Democratic Labour Party (PDT), and the Christian Labour Party (PTC). However, only the PTC failed to gain seats in either house. The Republic Party (RP) had the biggest gain, electing 16 deputies more than in 2006.[3] In the Senate, the centre-left coalition was able to elect 39 seats, against 10 won by the opposition.[4] PT reached an all-time high in the upper house, electing 12 Senators and becoming the second largest party in the Senate, behind only the PMDB.[4] The other parties in the coalition did not have any significant gains, with the exception being the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), which was able to elect the first female Communist Senator in Brazilian history (Vanessa Grazziotin, from Amazonas).[5]

The anti-Lula bloc, on the other hand, suffered substantial losses in both houses. The Democrats (DEM), which had been the second largest party in the Senate during the previous 2007-2011 legislature, was the fourth largest, and managed to elect only 2 seats, reducing their total to 6 seats, tied with the Brazilian Labour Party (PTB) from the same coalition.[4] It also had the largest loss in the Chamber, losing 22 seats, and was closely followed by its ally, the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB), which lost 13 seats.[3] Overall, the Brazil can do more coalition lost control of 44 seats in the Chamber[3] and 11 in the Senate.[4] Influential members of the opposition during the Lula administration, such as Arthur Virgílio, Heráclito Fortes, Marco Maciel, and Tasso Jereissati, were not able to obtain re-election and will no longer serve in the National Congress.[6]

Other opposition members were more successful than the centre-right Brazil can do more coalition. The Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) was able to elect two Senators, gaining an extra seat when compared to the previous legislature.[4] It also kept its three seats in the Chamber.[3] The Green Party (PV) gained two extra seats in the Chamber,[3] in spite of losing its only seat in the Senate.[4]

By party

Summary of the 3 October 2010 National Congress election results

 
Coalition Parties Chamber Senate
Votes % of votes Seats % of seats +/– Votes % of votes Elected seats Total seats % of seats +/–
Lulista
For Brazil
to keep on changing
  Worker's Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) 16,289,199 16.9 88 17.1 +5 39,410,141 23.1 11 15 17.3 +7
  Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro, PMDB) 12,537,252 13.0 79 15.3 –10 23,998,949 14.1 16 19 24.6 +3
  Republic Party (Partido da República, PR) 7,311,655 7.6 41 7.9 +16 4,649,024 2.7 3 4 4.9
  Brazilian Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Brasileiro, PSB) 6,851,053 7.1 34 6.6 +7 6,129,463 3.6 3 3 3.7
  Democratic Labour Party (Partido Democrático Trabalhista, PDT) 4,854,602 5.0 28 5.4 +4 2,431,940 1.4 2 4 4.9 –2
  Social Christian Party (Partido Social Cristão, PSC) 3,072,546 3.2 17 3.3 +8 1,247,157 0.7 1 1 1.2
  Communist Party of Brazil (Partido Comunista do Brasil, PCdoB) 2,748,290 2.8 15 2.9 +2 12,561,716 7.4 1 2 2.4 +1
  Brazilian Republican Party (Partido Republicano Brasileiro, PRB) 1,633,500 1.7 8 1.5 +7 3,332,886 2.0 1 1 1.2 –1
  Christian Labour Party (Partido Trabalhista Cristão, PTC) 595,431 0.6 1 0.1 –2 282,629 0.2 0 0 0.0
  National Labour Party (Partido Trabalhista Nacional, PTN) 182,926 0.2 0 0.0 6,013 0.0 0 0 0.0
Total 56,076,454 58.1 311 60.6 +37 94,049,918 55.2 39 49 61.7 +8
Opposition
Brazil can do more
  Brazilian Social Democratic Party (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira, PSDB) 11,477,380 11.9 53 10.3 –13 30,903,736 18.1 5 11 13.5 –5
  Democrats (Democratas, DEM) 7,301,171 7.6 43 8.3 –22 10,225,883 6.0 2 6 7.4 –7
  Brazilian Labour Party (Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro, PTB) 4,038,239 4.2 21 4.0 –2 7,999,589 4.7 1 6 7.4 –1
  Socialist People's Party (Partido Popular Socialista, PPS) 2,536,809 2.6 12 2.3 –10 6,766,517 4.0 1 1 1.2 +1
  Party of National Mobilization (Partido da Mobilização Nacional, PMN) 1,086,705 1.1 4 0.7 +1 241,321 0.1 1 1 1.2 +1
  Labour Party of Brazil (Partido Trabalhista do Brasil, PTdoB) 642,422 0.7 3 0.5 +2 1,480,846 0.9 0 0 0.0
Total 27,082,726 28.0 136 26.5 –44 57,617,892 33.8 10 25 30.8 –11
Lulista
Out of coalition
  Progressive Party (Partido Progressista, PP) 6,330,062 6.6 41 7.9 9,170,015 5.4 3 4 4.9 +3
Opposition
Out of coalition
  Green Party (Partido Verde, PV) 3,710,366 3.8 15 2.9 +2 5,047,797 3.0 0 0 0.0 –1
Opposition
Out of coalition
  Socialism and Liberty Party (Partido Socialismo e Liberdade, PSOL) 1,142,737 1.2 3 0.5 3,041,854 1.8 2 2 2.4 +1
Lulista
Out of coalition
  Humanist Party of Solidarity (Partido Humanista da Solidariedade, PHS) 764,412 0.8 2 0.3 305,793 0.2 0 0 0.0
Lulista
Out of coalition
  Social Liberal Party (Partido Social Liberal, PSL) 499,963 0.5 1 0.1 +1 446,517 0.3 0 0 0.0
Lulista
Out of coalition
  Brazilian Labour Renewal Party (Partido Renovador Trabalhista Brasileiro, PRTB) 307,925 0.3 2 0.3 +2 74,478 0.0 0 0 0.0
Lulista
Out of coalition
  Progressive Republican Party (Partido Republicano Progressista, PRP) 307,188 0.3 2 0.3 +2 0 0.0 0 0 0.0
Others 358,178 0.4 0 0.0 677,309 0.4 0 0 0.0
Total valid votes 96,580,011 100.0 513 100.0 170,431,573 100.0 45 81 100.0
Sources: Chamber, Senate

By political groups

Political groups in the National Congress
of Brazil after the 2010 election
Chamber
Lulista bloc:
359 / 513

Centre-right bloc:

136 / 513

Greens:

15 / 513

PSOL:

3 / 513
Senate
Lulista bloc:
53 / 81

Centre-right bloc:

25 / 81

PSOL:

2 / 81

References

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