The party's Minas Gerais wing, led by Clóvis Salgado, Tristão da Cunha and João Belo, backed Quadros' opponent.

[1] The Republican Party defended the federal constitutional structure and representative government; it held that the political and administrative autonomy of the states assured the national unity and "the peace and prestige of the Republic".

The RP supported separation of powers between the executive, legislature and judiciary, as well as bicameralism, universal suffrage, and compulsory voting by secret ballot.

[1] Economically, the party advocated state intervention to "stimulate, support and supply private initiative, to regulate competition and avoid abuses and exploitation that sacrifice the collective economy.

Finally, the party believed in ensuring production on an economic basis, and of industrial decentralization, with the location of factories closer to the raw materials.