LULA DEFEATS FLÁVIO BOLSONARO IN BRAZILIAN PRESIDENTIAL RUNOFF

Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court declared Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva the winner of the 25 October presidential runoff against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. The court’s final count gave Lula 51.76% of valid votes and Bolsonaro 48.24%. Lula’s lead amounted to about 4.3 million votes from roughly 123.8 million ballots cast, according to the court. The result gives Lula a fourth presidential term. Bolsonaro is the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro had led the first round on 4 October with 47.03% of the vote, against Lula’s 45.16%. During the runoff count, he remained ahead when 37.40% of polling sections had reported, with a lead of about 274,000 votes. Returns from Brazil’s Northeast later moved Lula ahead. No candidate had previously won a Brazilian presidential runoff after placing second in the first round since the country’s return to democracy. Lula addressed supporters in São Paulo after the result and said: “This country needs peace and unity.”

Lula previously defeated Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 election. He was jailed from 2018 to 2019 on corruption charges that were subsequently overturned. The Workers’ Party, which Lula leads, had faced voter concerns over corruption scandals and rising prices during the campaign. Federal lawmaker Erika Hilton was with Lula in São Paulo during the vote count. Hilton called him “a statesman, a giant.”