General elections were held in Brazil on 3 October 2010 to elect the president, National Congress and state governors. As no presidential candidate received more than 50% in the first round of voting, a second round was held on 31 October to choose a successor to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party (PT),Colitt, Raymond. "Key dates in Brazil's 2010 presidential race". Reuters. January 11, 2010. who was constitutionally ineligible to run for a third term as he had already served two terms after winning the elections in 2002 and being re-elected in 2006.Barrionuevo, Alexei. "The Health of a Likely Presidential Candidate Comes Under Brazil's Microscope". The New York Times, May 23, 2009. Retrieved June 14, 2009.

With the support of Lula, the ruling PT nominated Dilma Rousseff, a former member and co-founder of the Democratic Labour Party, who joined Lula's administration as Ministry of Mines and Energy and later served as presidential Chief of Staff. For her vice presidential running mate, Dilma chose Michel Temer, a member of the centre-right Brazilian Democratic Movement, who served as President of the Chamber of Deputies and previously considered a presidential run in his own right.

The centre-right Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) nominated José Serra, who resigned as Governor of São Paulo to mount his presidential campaign. A former Mayor of São Paulo who had served as Minister of Health during the Cardoso Administration, Serra had previously been the presidential nominee of his party in 2002. For his vice presidential running mate, Serra chose Indio da Costa, a conservative Federal Deputy from Rio de Janeiro who was a member of the right-wing Democrats party. Da Costa, who became embroiled in controversy over his suggestion that the Workers' Party was linked to the international drug trade, received international comparisons to American politician Sarah Palin.

Marina Silva, a Senator from the northwestern state of Acre and former Minister of the Environment under Lula, left the PT to mount a candidacy as part of the Green Party. Silva criticized the environmental policies of the Lula Administration and ran a campaign in support of sustainable development, ending corruption, and decriminalizing marijuana. Silva, who would've been the first Black woman to serve as President, saw support from younger voters and managed to win almost 20% of the vote in the first round, well exceeding initial expectations.

In the first round, Dilma received 47% of the vote, Serra 33% and Silva 19%. Dilma went on to defeat Serra in the second round, becoming the first (and to date only) female President of Brazil. The elections were the first since 1989 (after the military dictatorship) that Lula did not run for the presidency.Colitt, Raymond. "Positions of Brazil's leading candidates". Reuters. January 11, 2010.

In the parliamentary elections, a "red wave" saw the PT become the largest party in the Chamber for the first time ever with 88 deputies, and elected Marco Maia as President of the lower house. Marques, José. "O encontro das ondas" . Istoé. September 24, 2010. "Presidência da Câmara deverá ficar com o PT na próxima legislatura". Chamber of Deputies of Brazil. October 7, 2010. Collectively, its coalition, For Brazil to keep on changing, elected 311 deputies. "Saiba a nova composição da Câmara". G1. October 4, 2010. 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. In the Senate, the centre-left coalition was able to elect 39 seats, against 10 won by the opposition. "Partidos aliados de Dilma elegem mais senadores que a oposição" . R7. October 4, 2010. 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. 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). Alfaia, Iram. "Vanessa é a primeira senadora eleita pelo Amazonas" . Vermelho. October 4, 2010.

The anti-Lula bloc 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. 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. Overall, the Brazil Can Do More coalition lost control of 44 seats in the Chamber and 11 in the Senate. 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. Oswald, Vivian. "Campeões de votos no passado, Marco Maciel, Tasso Jereissati e Arthur Virgílio não conseguem vaga". O Globo. October 4, 2010.

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. It also kept its three seats in the Chamber. The Green Party (PV) gained two extra seats in the Chamber, in spite of losing its only seat in the Senate.

Electoral system The president was elected using the two-round system; if no candidate received a majority in the first round of voting, a second round would be held.

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 members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by a system of proportional representation for a four-year term.

Presidential candidates The candidates of the two major political groups of the country were Lula's former Chief of Staff, Dilma Rousseff, of the ruling centre-left democratic socialist/social democratic Workers' Party (PT), and São Paulo State former governor, José Serra, from the centre-right opposition coalition formed mainly by theColitt, Raymond. "Key names in Brazil's 2010 presidential race". Reuters. December 17, 2010. Social Democratic Party (PSDB), and the right-wing Democrats (DEM).

Another main candidate was Marina Silva, Lula's former Minister of Environment. She is the candidate for the Green Party (PV), which she joined on late 2009 after leaving the PT, which she helped establishing in the 1980s. Agência Estado. "PV já articula apoio à candidatura de Marina Silva". August 14, 2009. Globo.com. Retrieved on 2009-08-15. She has obtained international recognition as a defender of the Amazon rainforest, but is less known in her native Brazil, being unable to obtain more support than the other two major candidates in opinion polls.Uol.com, synthesis of late-2010 opinion poll results , last viewed October 3, 2010

Lula's potential successors As Lula was ineligible to run for a third consecutive term due to term limits established by the Brazilian constitution, speculation mounted in the years prior to the election around who might take the mantle of the Workers' Party in his absence. Though Lula was widely popular, many commentators speculated that his likely successors in the PT would fail to generate his populist touch. Polling conducted in Lula's second term found that a slim majority favored amending the constitution to allow Lula to run for a third term, but he opposed such efforts. Two of Lula's key allies tipped as potential successors, former Minister of Finance Antonio Palocci and former presidential Chief of Staff José Dirceu, were harmed by their involvement in the 2005 Mensalão scandal.

In 2008, Lula announced that he wanted a woman to succeed him in the presidency. Former Mayor of São Paulo Marta Suplicy, who served at the helm of Brazil's largest city from 2001 to 2005, was considered to be, along with Dilma, the most likely candidate to lead the PT in the 2010 presidential election. Polling conducted in 2008 found her to be a more popular potential presidential candidate than Dilma. After losing her bid for reelection in 2004, Suplicy was appointed by Lula to the position of Minister of Tourism, which was speculated to be an attempt at elevating her profile for a 2010 presidential bid. In 2008, Suplicy mounted another bid was for Mayor of São Paulo, which was seen as a precursor to a potential presidential bid in 2010; Suplicy lost the election, damaging her political fortunes.

Ciro Gomes, former governor of Ceará and Minister for National Integration during Lula's first cabinet, was a possible candidate for the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB). In the years prior to the election, there was some speculation that Lula would support Ciro, a formal rival of his, in the 2010 election if no potential PT candidates appeared viable. Following the selection of Dilma as the candidate of the PT, the ruling centre-left group was worried that Ciro's bid could take votes from Rousseff, and thus, on April 27, PSB declined to launch his candidacy in order to support her. Gomes, a populist who had appeared on third place in polls from May 2009 to April 2010, had been a presidential candidate in 1998 and 2002, when he had a poor result after making sexist remarks and struggling to control his temper.

In addition to Dilma, Suplicy, and Gomes, other PT members or allies were mentioned as being potentially tapped by Lula to run in his absence. Senator Aloizio Mercadante of São Paulo, a key power-player in the PT who helped found the party and served as Lula's vice presidential running-mate in the 1994 presidential election, was also mentioned as a possible successor.

PSDB nomination

José Serra, the governor of São Paulo, resigned from the position to mount a bid for the presidency as a member of the dominant centre-right Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB). Serra previously served as the party's candidate in the 2002 presidential election, where he lost to Lula. Aécio Neves, the popular Governor of Minas Gerais, was considered another potential candidate for the party, and later served as the party's nominee in the 2014 presidential election. During the campaign, Serra sought to challenge the perception of the PSDB as an elitist party. Serra's moderate positions on social issues such as abortion and religious issues, where he took a secularist approach compared to many conservative politicians, was noted.

Efforts by PSOL