Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was declared the winner of Sunday’s presidential runoff by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), securing a fourth nonconsecutive term after defeating Flavio Bolsonaro in a closely contested race.
With nearly all polling stations tallied, the TSE reported that Lula had secured 51.76% of valid votes against Bolsonaro’s 48.24%, a margin of more than 4 million votes.
The result marks an unprecedented development in modern Brazilian political history. Since the introduction of the two-round presidential election system in 1989, Lula has become the first candidate to win a runoff after finishing second in the first round.
In the initial vote on Oct. 4, Bolsonaro finished ahead with 47.03% of valid votes, compared with Lula’s 45.16%, setting the stage for three weeks of intense campaigning across Latin America’s largest country.
The runoff outcome represents a setback for the Bolsonaro family. Flavio, a 45-year-old senator and the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, had sought to return his family to the presidency.
The lead changed hands multiple during the early stages of vote counting before Lula pulled ahead as more ballots were tallied, including returns from urban centers and the heavily populated Northeast.Lula, who previously governed Brazil from 2003 to 2010 before winning another term in 2022, will begin his fourth term on Jan. 5, 2027.
