Brazilian leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is approaching his 81st birthday, was re-elected on Sunday to an unprecedented fourth presidential term, defeating his conservative rival Flávio Bolsonaro, who announced his intention to seek the annulment of the vote.
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With Lula’s victory, Brazil ultimately avoided a shift to the right similar to those seen in Argentina, Chile and Colombia, countries backed by US President Donald Trump. Brazil remained one of the few progressive strongholds in Latin America. According to official results, Lula secured approximately 51.8% of the vote, compared with 48.2% for the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro said he would not concede defeat to da Silva and added that he would seek to annul the runoff election. He described Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin’s decision to extend voting hours by two hours as “unacceptable.”
Brazil’s electoral authority had earlier announced a temporary suspension of the vote count in the presidential runoff after a Supreme Court justice ordered voting hours to be extended nationwide by two hours.
Polling stations had initially been scheduled to close at 5 p.m. local time (2000 GMT), but they remained open until 7 p.m. after Justice Cristiano Zanin approved a request from Lula’s campaign to extend voting hours. He cited public transportation problems in three cities in the state of Bahia.
Tensions were high, with opinion polls predicting a closely contested race. Both candidates made last-minute appeals to electoral authorities to extend voting by two hours in selected states. Bolsonaro requested additional time in three states, citing bad weather, while Lula asked for an extension in nine states after his campaign alleged that officials had reduced public transportation services on election day.
Many Brazilians rely on public transportation to vote in the cities where they are registered, even if they no longer live there. Lula’s supporters tend to depend more heavily on public transportation in these cities. A court in Bahia, a Lula stronghold in northeastern Brazil, ordered the arrest of a senior transportation official in Salvador over allegations that he had ordered a reduction in the city’s bus fleet.
“People should not give up voting because an unscrupulous businessman or a corrupt and dishonest mayor tried to prevent them from doing so,” Lula told reporters.
Corruption scandals, economic concerns and allegations of US interference which Washington denies dominated the election campaign. The race was also shaped by the repercussions of Jair Bolsonaro’s 2025 conviction for plotting a coup in 2022. Flávio pledged to secure his father’s release if elected.
Trump described the case as a “witch hunt” and imposed 50% tariffs on Brazil in 2025, in a move clearly linked to Jair Bolsonaro’s trial. Although some of those measures were later eased, Trump imposed new tariffs on Brazil this year, citing what he called unfair trade practices.
Lula argued that the Trump administration’s close ties with the Bolsonaro family were part of an attempt to influence the election. He criticized the tariffs and other punitive measures, describing them as bullying. Economically, Lula faced difficulties winning over voters struggling with rising living costs and mounting household debt, despite declines in inequality and unemployment. Widespread violence by criminal gangs was also a source of concern for voters.
Bolsonaro, meanwhile, sought to capitalize on concerns about the cost of living, pledging a tough approach to fighting crime that included establishing maximum-security prisons and introducing chemical castration for perpetrators of serious sexual offences.
Bolsonaro received 47% of the vote in the first round, compared with 45% for Lula. His strong first-round performance boosted Brazilian markets and the currency amid expectations of business-friendly reforms.
His first-round success also benefited his Liberal Party and other right-wing politicians in congressional elections, potentially giving him a legislative path forward or complicating governance for Lula.
