General elections were held in Brazil on 5 October 2014 to elect the president, the National Congress, and state governorships."TSE aprova calendário e divulga datas das eleições de 2014". Terra. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013. As no candidate in the presidential election received more than 50% of the vote in the first round on 5 October 2014, a second-round runoff was held on 26 October 2014.
Elections were held in the midst of the devastating 2014 Brazilian economic crisis. President Dilma Rousseff of the left-wing Workers' Party ran for reelection, choosing incumbent Vice President Michel Temer of the centre-right Brazilian Democratic Movement as her running-mate. During her first term, Rousseff's presidency was rocked by the 2013 protests in Brazil, initiated mainly by the Free Fare Movement, in response to social inequality in the country.
Aécio Neves, a senator from the electorally-crucial state of Minas Gerais and the grandson of former president-elect Tancredo Neves, entered the race as the candidate of the centre-right Brazilian Social Democracy Party. Neves, who previously served as a popular Governor of Minas Gerais, had previously considered running for president in 2010 before ultimately declining. Unlike in past presidential elections, the PSDB ticket consisted of two members of the party, with São Paulo Senator Aloysio Nunes serving as his running mate.
Former Pernambuco Governor Eduardo Campos, who had served with Rousseff in the left-wing Lula administration, entered the race as a centre-left alternative to Rousseff on the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) ticket. For his running mate, Campos chose Marina Silva, an environmentalist politician from the state of Acre who performed unexpectedly well in the 2010 presidential election. However, Campos died in a plane crash less than two months before the first round of voting, and Silva replaced him at the top of the ticket.
In the first round of voting, Dilma Rousseff won 41.6% of the vote, ahead of Aécio Neves with 33.6% and Marina Silva with 21.3%. Rousseff and Neves contested the runoff on 26 October, and Rousseff won re-election by a narrow margin, 51.6% to Neves' 48.4%, the closest margin for a Brazilian presidential election since 1989.
Presidential election Incumbent President Dilma Rousseff of the Workers' Party (PT), Brazil's first female president, was challenged by 11 other candidates. Minas Gerais Senator Aécio Neves from the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) and Marina Silva from the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) were her main rivals. Since none of the candidates obtained over 50% of the valid votes in the 5 October election, a second-round election was held on 26 October between Rousseff and Neves, who had finished first and second respectively in the 5 October vote.
In the run-up to the election, allies of 2010 PSDB presidential nominee José Serra pushed for Governor of São Paulo Geraldo Alckmin, who served as the party's nominee in 2006, to serve as the party's nominee versus Dilma. One of the people who pushed for Alckmin's nomination was Senator from São Paulo Aloysio Nunes, who was later chosen as the running-mate of Neves.
The original PSB candidate had been Eduardo Campos. However, he died in a plane crash in Santos on 13 August 2014, after which the party chose Silva, who had been his running mate, to replace him as the presidential candidate.
Conservative federal deputy Jair Bolsonaro had publicly declared his interest in running for either the presidency or vice presidency in the run-up to the election. However, Bolsonaro did not enter the race.
Aécio Neves running mate selection Six potential running mates were speculated on as potential vice presidential candidates to run with Aécio Neves on the PSDB ticket according to reporting done by O Globo.
Aloysio Nunes, Senator from São Paulo (PSDB) - Selected Mara Gabrilli, federal deputy from São Paulo and deputy party chairwoman (PSDB) Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former President of Brazil (PSDB) José Agripino Maia, president of the Democrats, a party allied with the PSDB (DEM) Ellen Gracie Northfleet, former Justice of the Supreme Federal Court (non-partisan) Joaquim Barbosa, Justice of the Supreme Federal Court (non-partisan)
Campaign issues Economy Dilma Rousseff Rousseff defended the significant economic gains and improvements in living standards during her administration and that of her predecessor, Lula da Silva.
Aécio Neves Neves proposed sweeping reductions in the welfare state and state intervention in the economy.
Use of digital manipulation The election saw significant use of bots by candidates. Both Dilma Rousseff (PT) and Aécio Neves (PSDB) employed automated accounts across platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp to amplify their messages as a form of propaganda. The Federal University of Espírito Santo and Folha de São Paulo identified a spike in bot activity during debates, with Neves' hashtags tripling in tweets within minutes.
Rousseff's support group, Muda Mais, identified over 60 automated Twitter accounts that retweeted Neves' content more than 180 times each. Rousseff’s campaign also documented the existence of automated accounts, mainly on Twitter and Facebook, which attacked her and supported Neves. These accounts were linked to a businessman who had received R$130,000 to bolster Neves’ campaign, which led to calls for fines between R$5,000 and R$30,000 under Brazil's electoral laws.
Rousseff’s campaign also employed bots, though on a smaller scale compared to Neves’ team. Leaked internal memoranda from Rousseff’s campaign revealed that the Neves campaign had spent an estimated R$10 million to buy and deploy bots on social networks, including WhatsApp, to push political messages.
Although Brazilian electoral laws prohibit paid social media campaign, private entities bypassed these restrictions by deploying bots on behalf of candidates. Neves' campaign reportedly spent R$10 million on these bots.
Allegations of corruption Shortly before the election, a former executive of the state-run oil company Petrobras accused a minister, three state governors, six senators and dozens of congressmen from President Dilma Rousseff's Workers’ Party (PT) and several coalition allies of having accepted kickback payments from contracts.
Candidates Candidates in runoff Party Presidential candidate Vice presidential candidate Coalition Workers' Party(PT13) Dilma RousseffPresident of Brazil (2011–2016)Chief of Staff of the Presidency (2005–2010) Michel Temer (PMDB)Vice President of Brazil (2011–2016)President of the Chamber of Deputies (1997–2001; 2009–2010) With the Strength of the People: Workers' Party (PT) Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Progressive Party (PP) Party of the Republic (PR) Democratic Labour Party (PDT) Republican Party of the Social Order (PROS) Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) Brazilian Social Democracy Party(PSDB45) Aécio NevesSenator for Minas Gerais (2011–2019)Governor of Minas Gerais (2003–2010) Aloysio NunesSenator for São Paulo (2011–2019)Minister of Justice (2001–2002) Change Brazil: Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) Solidariedade (SD) Party of National Mobilization (PMN) National Ecologic Party (PEN) National Labour Party (PTN) Christian Labour Party (PTC) Democrats (DEM) Labour Party of Brazil (PTdoB) Brazilian Labour Party (PTB)
Candidates failing to make runoff Party Presidential candidate Vice presidential candidate Coalition United Socialist Workers' Party(PSTU16) José Maria de Almeida Cláudia Durans Social Christian Party(PSC20) Everaldo PereiraDeputy Chief of Staff of Rio de Janeiro (1999–2003) Leonardo Gadelha Brazilian Communist Party(PCB21) Mauro Iasi Sofia Manzano Christian Social Democratic Party(PSDC27) José Maria EymaelFederal Deputy for São Paulo (1986–1995) Roberto Lopes Brazilian Labour Renewal Party(PRTB28) Levy Fidelix José Alves de Oliveira Workers' Cause Party(PCO29) Rui Costa Pimenta Ricardo Machado Brazilian Socialist Party(PSB40) Marina SilvaSenator for Acre (1995–2011) Beto AlbuquerqueFederal Deputy for Rio Grande do Sul (1995–2015) United for Brazil: Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) Popular Socialist Party (PPS) Social Liberal Party (PSL) Humanist Party of Solidarity (PHS) Free Fatherland Party (PPL) Progressive Republican Party (PRP) Green Party(PV43) Eduardo JorgeFederal Deputy for São Paulo (1986–2003) Célia SacramentoVice Mayor of Salvador (2013–2017) Socialism and Liberty Party(PSOL50) Luciana GenroFederal Deputy for Rio Grande do Sul (2003–2011) Jorge Paz
Debates 2014 Brazilian presidential election debates Date Host and Location Moderator ParticipantsKey: Rousseff Neves Silva Genro Jorge Pereira Fidelix Eymael 1.1 Tuesday, 26 August 2014 Band TVSão Paulo, Morumbi Ricardo Boechat 1.2 Monday, 1 September 2014 SBT, Folha de S. Paulo, Jovem Pan, UOLOsasco, Industrial Anhanguera Carlos Nascimento 1.3 Tuesday, 16 September 2014 TV Aparecida, CNBBAparecida, São Paulo Rodolpho Gamberini 1.4 Sunday, 28 September 2014 RecordTV, R7São Paulo, Lapa Adriana Araújo, Celso Freitas 1.5 Thursday, 2 October 2014 TV Globo, G1Rio de Janeiro, Jacarepaguá William Bonner 2.1 Tuesday, 14 October 2014 Band TVSão Paulo, Morumbi Ricardo Boechat rowspan=4 colspan=6 2.2 Thursday, 16 October 2014 SBT, Folha de S. Paulo, Jovem Pan, UOLOsasco, Industrial Anhanguera Carlos Nascimento 2.3 Sunday, 19 October 2014 RecordTV, R7São Paulo, Lapa Adriana Araújo, Celso Freitas 2.4 Friday, 24 October 2014 TV Globo, G1Rio de Janeiro, Jacarepaguá William Bonner
Opinion polls
First round +Polling aggregates Active candidates Dilma Rousseff (PT) Aécio Neves (PSDB) Marina Silva (PSB) Eduardo Campos (PSB) Others Abstentions/Undecided