Brazil has a winner — and a fight over the result. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won Brazil's presidential runoff election, securing a historic fourth term in office after beating right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.
The result
With all votes counted, Lula took 51.8% of the vote — more than 64 million ballots — against 48.2% for Bolsonaro, about 59.8 million votes. The margin was roughly 4.4 million votes. Lula, 80, will begin his new term in January 2027.
A comeback from second place
The result reverses the first round on 4 October, when Bolsonaro led with 47% against Lula's 45%. It is the first time since Brazil returned to democracy that a candidate who finished second in the first round has gone on to win the runoff. Lula previously beat Flávio Bolsonaro's father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, in 2022.
Why the result is being challenged
Voting hours were extended by two hours on election day after a Supreme Court ruling, following requests from both campaigns — Lula's team cited transport problems in working-class strongholds, while Bolsonaro's team cited heavy rain in the south. Bolsonaro has refused to concede, saying the result is impossible to accept and that his team will take legal action to seek annulment.
What decided the election
The campaign was dominated by the cost of living, crime and corruption. In his victory speech, Lula said Brazil "doesn't accept being anybody's colony" and promised to govern for all Brazilians. His win breaks a recent run of right-wing victories across Latin America and leaves Brazil and Mexico — the region's two most populous countries — with left-of-centre leaders.
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