Photo: Ricardo Stuckert / Presidency of Brazil, CC BY, via Wikimedia Commons
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has won a historic fourth term, defeating right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in Sunday's presidential runoff and pulling off a comeback that defied both the first-round result and the region's recent rightward political wave.
Brazil's Superior Electoral Court called the race for Lula shortly after 9 p.m. Brasilia time on Sunday, after he passed 51 percent of the vote. With all votes counted, Lula took 51.8 percent against Bolsonaro's 48.2 percent, a margin of nearly 4.4 million votes, according to the electoral court figures reported by the Associated Press. More than 64 million ballots were cast for the incumbent; Bolsonaro received more than 59 million.
A comeback from a first-round defeat
Lula entered Sunday's runoff as the underdog. In the first round on October 4, Bolsonaro finished first with about 47 percent of the vote against Lula's roughly 45 percent, neither reaching the 50 percent needed to win outright. No politician in modern Brazilian history had previously lost the first round of a presidential election and then won the runoff — a precedent Lula has now broken.
The victory also makes him the first person ever elected president of Brazil four times. The 80-year-old former metalworker and union leader won two consecutive terms from 2003 to 2010 and a third term in 2022. He will be sworn in for his fourth term on January 5, 2027, when he will become the oldest Brazilian president to take the oath since the country's return to democracy.
Lula's career has been defined by comebacks. He was jailed from 2018 to 2019 on corruption charges that were later overturned, clearing the way for his 2022 victory over Jair Bolsonaro — Flavio Bolsonaro's father, who has since been sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in plotting a coup following that loss.
Cost of living carried the campaign
In the weeks after the first round, Lula rallied supporters around cost-of-living issues. He championed a constitutional amendment passed this month that shortened the Brazilian workweek and floated the possibility of free public transport on weekends. In September, he banned online gambling and sports betting apps, a move aimed at household debt that Al Jazeera reports has left many Brazilians feeling their finances have worsened despite low unemployment and falling poverty during his third term.
Taking to a flag-draped podium for his victory speech, his voice hoarse, Lula thanked voters who cast their ballots "to secure democracy in the country" and acknowledged the difficult road ahead with Congress. "I do not choose the Congress," he said. "It was the people who chose it, and it is with them that I will vote, work and get things approved."
A tense, extended voting day
The voting process itself was marred by controversy. Both campaigns petitioned the Supreme Court for a voting extension, and polls across the country were kept open two hours later than expected, until 7 p.m. Brasilia time. Lula's allies accused Bolsonaro supporters of reducing bus availability in some areas in an attempt to dampen turnout among the president's working-class base, while heavy rains affected southern areas considered Bolsonaro strongholds.
Bolsonaro has suggested he would seek to nullify the election, citing the prolonged voting hours. Donald Trump Jr. also suggested there had been judicial malpractice as a result of the extension. Those claims have not been substantiated, and the electoral court has confirmed the result with all votes counted.
What it means for Brazil — and for Washington
Sunday's result halts a wave of right-wing presidential victories across Latin America. In recent years, right-wing leaders have swept races in Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador, many riding anti-incumbent sentiment and enjoying support from US President Donald Trump, who returned to office in January 2025. Brazil, the region's largest country, is the first where the left has won since then.
The result also sets up a complicated relationship with Washington. The Trump White House has been openly supportive of the Bolsonaro family, imposing 50-percent tariffs last year on certain Brazilian products in a push to end the prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro, and sanctioning judges involved in the case, most notably Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Lula has framed such moves as an attack on Brazil's judicial sovereignty.
US Representative Ro Khanna urged the White House to accept the outcome, writing: "Trump must respect the results and not undermine Brazil's elections." Leaders across the hemisphere congratulated Lula, including Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who wrote: "Long live democracy, the people of Brazil have won."
Even with the presidency secured, Lula faces a difficult fourth term. Al Jazeera notes that efforts to advance his legislative priorities could be stymied by the most right-wing Congress in recent memory, and questions remain about how Bolsonaro's base and the Trump administration will react to the result.
Sources: Reuters, Associated Press, Al Jazeera