2002 Brazilian general election

2002 Brazilian general election

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Presidential election
6 October 2002 (first round) 27 October 2002 (second round)
Turnout	82.26% (first round) 79.53% (second round)
Candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva José Serra Party PT PSDB Alliance Lula President Great Alliance Running mate José Alencar Rita Camata Popular vote 52,793,364 33,370,739 Percentage 61.27% 38.73%
Second round, shaded accounding to vote share First round, shaded accounding to vote share Presidential election results
President before election Fernando Henrique Cardoso PSDB Elected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva PT
Chamber of Deputies
6 October 2002
All 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 257 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader % Seats +/– PT José Genoíno 18.40 91 +33 PSDB José Aníbal 14.26 70 −29 PFL Jorge Bornhausen 13.38 84 −21 PMDB 13.37 76 −7 PPB 7.81 48 −12 PSB Anthony Garotinho 5.28 22 +3 PDT 5.12 21 −4 PTB Roberto Jefferson 4.63 26 −5 PL Valdemar Costa Neto 4.32 26 +14 PPS 3.07 15 +12 PCdoB 2.25 12 +5 PRONA Enéas Carneiro 2.06 6 +5 PV 1.35 5 +5 PSC 0.58 1 −2 PST 0.58 3 +2 PSD 0.52 4 +1 PSL Luciano Bivar 0.47 1 +1 PMN 0.32 1 −1 PSDC 0.22 1 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Federal Senate
6 October 2002
54 of the 81 seats in the Senate
Party Leader % Seats +/– PT José Genoíno 22.03 14 +7 PFL Jorge Bornhausen 18.49 19 −1 PMDB 16.40 19 −7 PSDB José Aníbal 13.90 11 −5 PDT 5.16 5 +1 PPB 4.49 1 −2 PTB Roberto Jefferson 3.38 3 +2 PL Valdemar Costa Neto 3.16 3 +3 PPS 3.07 1 0 PSB 2.21 4 +1 PSD 0.75 1 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

General elections were held in Brazil on 6 October 2002, with a second round of the presidential election on 27 October. The elections were held in the midst of an economic crisis that began in the second term of the incumbent president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso of the centre-right Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB). Due to constitutional term limits, Cardoso was ineligible to run for a third consecutive term.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party (PT), a former labor leader and federal deputy for São Paulo, ran for president for a fourth time. Lula had previously lost in the 1989, 1994, and 1998 presidential elections, being defeated by Cardoso in the latter two. Lula somewhat moderated his political approach in the 2002 presidential campaign, writing a document now known as the Letter to the Brazilian People to ease fears that he would transition Brazil into a full-fledged socialist economy.^[1] Staying true to this turn to the center, Lula chose José Alencar, a millionaire textile businessman and Senator from Minas Gerais associated with the centre-right Liberal Party (PL), as his running mate.^[2]

Following a tense intra-party battle over who would run to succeed Cardoso on the PSDB ticket, former Minister of Health José Serra was ultimately selected by the party to be its standard bearer for President in 2002.^[3] Rita Camata, a federal deputy for Espírito Santo and member of the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), was chosen as his running mate. In the beginning of the election cycle, Governor of Maranhão Roseana Sarney (PFL) looked to be the most viable centre-right candidate.^[4] However, a corruption scandal forced Sarney out of the race, allowing the PSDB to remain the paramount centre-right force in the 2002 cycle.^[5]

The election took place in the aftermath of an economic crisis that hit Brazil during Cardoso's second term.^[6] Lula's pivot to the centre worked, picking up the support of key centrist and centre-right politicians such as former President José Sarney in the process.^[7] In the first round, Lula would lead Serra by a wide margin, only failing to prevent a runoff because of votes that went to other left-wing candidates. In the second round, Lula would defeat Serra by a landslide, winning every state except for Alagoas.^[8] In 2003, Lula took office as President of Brazil, becoming the first leftist elected to the office following the fall of the military dictatorship in Brazil.