Photo: Lula Oficial / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won Brazil’s presidential runoff, defeating right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro on Sunday, October 25, and securing a fourth, non-consecutive term as head of Latin America’s largest country. According to official results, Lula took 51.75% of the vote against 48.25% for Bolsonaro, a gap of more than 40 lakh votes, after trailing his rival in the first round.
Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court called the race shortly after 9 pm Brasília time (about 5.30 am IST on Monday). Lula received more than 6.4 crore votes, while Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, crossed 5.9 crore.
A comeback without precedent
No candidate in Brazil’s modern democratic era had previously lost the first round of a presidential election and then won the second. On October 4, Lula finished on about 45% to Bolsonaro’s 47%, with neither reaching the 50% needed to avoid a runoff, and he entered polling day as the underdog.
In the three weeks that followed, his campaign shifted its focus to the cost of living. It highlighted a constitutional amendment passed this month that shortens the working week and floated the idea of free public transport at weekends, while the left staged large rallies under the slogan “Never Again Bolsonaro”. Lula also overhauled his social media approach, recording selfie videos for supporters.
Speaking hoarsely from a flag-draped stage in São Paulo, Lula thanked those who had voted to protect democracy and acknowledged that his agenda would face resistance in the legislature.
I do not choose the Congress. It was the people who chose it, and it is with them that I will vote, work and get things approved.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil
A tense polling day
Voting was overshadowed by a last-minute Supreme Court ruling that kept polling stations open two hours longer than planned, until 7 pm Brasília time. Lula’s side had sought the extension, saying buses had been withdrawn in several cities and voters were being kept away, while Bolsonaro’s camp had asked for more time only in some rain-hit southern areas and objected to a nationwide extension.
Bolsonaro has since suggested he could try to have the election annulled because of the longer voting hours. Donald Trump Jr., the US president’s eldest son, also questioned the court’s role. Leaders on the left across the region, including Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, congratulated Lula.
Why it matters and what comes next
The result halts a run of right-wing victories in South America, where countries including Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru have moved right in recent years, many with Washington’s backing. The Trump administration has openly supported the Bolsonaro family and last year imposed 50% tariffs on some Brazilian goods while Jair Bolsonaro was being prosecuted. The former president has since been sentenced to 27 years in prison over a plot to overturn his 2022 defeat to Lula.
Lula, who turns 81 on Tuesday, is due to be sworn in on January 5, 2027, and will be 85 when the new term ends in 2030. He faces a Congress dominated by the right, slowing growth, rising household debt and pressure to tackle violent criminal gangs, with almost half the country having voted against him.
