Independent candidacies and electoral action of oppositionists in the final years of the First Republic: the political careers of independent candidates to the Legislative Congress of Paraná in 1929

Abstract

The article analyzes the political careers of the fourteen individuals who presented themselves as independent candidates in the election for the thirty seats in the Legislative Congress of Paraná, in 1929. The objective of this study is to advance the understanding of the forms of electoral competition in the political contexts characterized by low integration between opponents of the ruling parties at the time of the First Republic. The sources used here consist of regional and national newspapers. These sources include information such as the nominations obtained by independent candidates, the parties to which they belonged and the terms they served. This article uses methods inspirited in prosopography. In this context, information is collected on the origins and political destinies of individuals who presented themselves as independent candidates in the mentioned dispute. There are three central results presented in this analysis. First, it should be noted that, to a large extent, the individual postulants represented certain professional groups. Second, evidence is given that highlights that in 1929 the election of oppositionists was derived from the fact that there was not a complete list of pro-government candidates for the positions in the Legislative Power. Third, evidence is show that the political fate of a part of group of fourteen candidates was to join ruling parties created after the year 1930.