Lula wins fourth term after first-place runoff upset
The 80-year-old former president erased a 2.2 million vote deficit from the first round, marking the first time a second-place candidate has won a runoff since the 1980s.
By Javier Sanders ·
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a fourth term as president of Brazil on Sunday, securing 51.75% of the vote against 48.25% for Flávio Bolsonaro. The result, confirmed with nearly 99% of ballots counted, places the 80-year-old leader ahead by a margin of 4.3 million votes. This outcome reverses a 2.2 million vote deficit he held after the first round in early October.
The victory marks a first for Brazilian democracy, which returned in the 1980s. No candidate who finished second in the initial vote has ever secured the presidency in the subsequent runoff. The narrow loss in the first round had previously raised questions about Lula’s political viability and left his base uncertain for three weeks.
Turnout shifts appear to have driven the swing. The first round saw a record abstention rate of 21.08%, a figure that hurt Lula disproportionately because his supporters often live farther from polling stations. In the runoff, abstention dropped to 19.21%, allowing Lula to close the gap. Reginaldo Lopes, a key ally, described the result as "incredible" and said Brazil would now "reorganize the democratic forces."
The win presents a clear setback for the Bolsonaro family. Jair Bolsonaro, the father of the defeated challenger, is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup. He is under house arrest in Brasília and had hoped for a government role if his son won. Confirmation of the loss met with anger and bewilderment among his supporters watching the count.
The result also disrupts plans for US President Donald Trump, who viewed Brazil as a key addition to a bloc of pro-Trump leaders in Latin America. Trump had hoped to align Brazil with administrations in Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina. Lula’s return to power challenges that regional strategy.
Supporters demonstrated their strength before the vote, with over one million people gathering on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. A larger crowd marched on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo. On Sunday evening, hundreds returned to the avenue to watch the count, waving red flags. Camilo Buarque, 35, stated, "This is democracy."
Voters in São Paulo also reacted to an apparent effort by pro-Bolsonaro politicians to disrupt the vote by sabotaging public transport in areas that lean toward Lula. Lucas Lopes, 32, called the incident "another coup attempt." The effort failed to change the outcome. Caio Marques, 40, a photographer from Franca, noted that while the left struggled in the first round, they "woke up" for the second.
