Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil's presidential runoff on Sunday, October 25, taking about 51.8% of valid votes to Senator Flávio Bolsonaro's 48.2%, according to Brazil's Superior Electoral Court. Bolsonaro has refused to concede and says he will ask the courts to annul the result.
The win gives Lula, who turned 81 on Tuesday, a record fourth term. He trailed after the first round on October 4, and Al Jazeera reported that he is the first candidate since Brazil's return to democracy in 1985 to win a runoff after finishing second in round one. His new term begins January 5, 2027, according to Middle East Eye.
The comeback in numbers
The newsroom's comparison of the two rounds, using the figures Al Jazeera reported:
Flávio Bolsonaro: 47.03%. 48.21% (59.83 million votes).
Lula: 45.16%. 51.79% (64.26 million votes).
Margin: Bolsonaro +1.87 points. Lula +3.58 points.
Turnout: 78.92%. 80.8%.
The arithmetic tells most of the story. Lula gained 6.63 points between rounds while Bolsonaro gained 1.18, so Lula won the large majority of voters who backed other candidates or stayed home on October 4. His final margin was roughly 4.4 million votes. Fernando Brancoli, an international relations professor, told Al Jazeera that many people who skipped the first round voted in the second.
The legal challenge
The dispute centers on the clock. Heavy rain and transport disruptions led authorities to keep polls open two extra hours after Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ordered an extension, according to Al Jazeera. Both campaigns had requested more time.
Bolsonaro nonetheless said the extension tainted the result. "We will engage our legal team and seek to have these elections annulled," he said, according to Middle East Eye, which reported that he accused Lula's allies on the court of changing the rules "arbitrarily."
That position may be hard to sustain in court. Vinicius G. Rodrigues Vieira, an economics professor, told Al Jazeera the challenge was unlikely to succeed because Bolsonaro's own campaign had asked for the extension. He suggested it could still help the movement stay strong on the streets. In many legal systems, a party that asks for a ruling generally cannot later complain that the ruling it requested was unfair, though how Brazil's electoral court treats the challenge will depend on its own law.
The shadow of 2022
The fight echoes the last election. Flávio's father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, refused to accept his 2022 defeat to Lula. He was later convicted of plotting a coup and sentenced to 27 years in prison, a sentence he is serving under house arrest, Al Jazeera reported.
What Lula said
At a victory parade in São Paulo, Lula told supporters, "I just had to tell you that I love you. Tomorrow, the fight continues." He also said, "No one is required to like the president-elect, but he must govern for everyone," according to Al Jazeera. Middle East Eye quoted him saying Brazil had "defeated the interference that was coming from the outside in" and that "Brazil is no one's back yard."
Foreign policy separates the two men. Middle East Eye noted that Lula has long criticized Israel and the United States and called for Palestinian statehood, and it described Bolsonaro as a pro-Israel senator. Leaders who welcomed Lula's win included Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the outlet reported.
A divided Congress
Lula will not have a free hand. Bolsonaro's Liberal Party and its allies could control more than 280 of the 513 seats in the lower house and up to 50 of the 81 Senate seats, Al Jazeera reported, giving the opposition majorities in both chambers.
Brazil's vote came two days before Israel's, which we previewed in Israel votes Tuesday. In the United States, the midterms are a week away, with the Justice Department sending a record number of election monitors.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
