LET US FIGHT, RELATIVES! INDIGENOUS CANDIDACIES IN BRAZIL’S 2014 ELECTIONS

Through the descriptive statistics of the data provided by the TSE, the interviews via phone and e-mail, and the analysis of four campaigns by 73 indigenous candidates, this article examines the characteristics of this group, emphasizing their social and party membership attributes in contrast to the broader universe of competitors. The data analysis indicated the concentration of these candidacies in the North and the Northeast Brazil, within small leftist parties, and the high educational level of the indigenous candidates. This study also shows that, in terms of adstrict and adscript attributes, indigenous and non-indigenous candidates are very similar among themselves. Thus, this is not where we should look for the reasons of indigenous’ candidates low electoral performance. Indigenous people rarely run for state and federal representation offices, and they represented the smallest contingent in 2014. This may reveal that they tend to conduct politics within “indigenous movement” associations and organizations rather than within institutional politics. Politically speaking, this minority is even more excluded than women and black people. However, the causes of such exclusion are still in need of further analysis.

Brazilian elections; Race; Indigenous candidates; Indigenous politics; Political parties