BRASÍLIA — Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will face each other in Brazil’s Oct. 25 presidential runoff after neither candidate secured a first-round majority, with Bolsonaro finishing narrowly ahead in a result that upended many pre-election forecasts, the Associated Press, Agência Brasil and The Guardian reported.
Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court showed Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party with about 47 percent of valid votes — more than 56 million ballots — and Lula of the Workers’ Party with roughly 45 percent, or about 53.7 million to 53.9 million votes, with nearly all electronic tallies in. Turnout hovered near 79 percent, with blank and null ballots in the low single digits. No candidate cleared the absolute majority required to avoid a second round.
Lula, 80, seeking a fourth non-consecutive term, called the outcome “unexpected” and conceded he had believed he could win Sunday outright. “Tomorrow we start a new campaign,” he told supporters. “I am very good in the knockout stage. We will see who has the best plan.” Bolsonaro, 45, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro and a political ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, told a small crowd outside his Brasília home that “Brazil wants change” and declared “the end of the Workers’ Party era.”
Writer Augusto Cury finished third with roughly 3.4 million votes and said he would not endorse either finalist. Other candidates who together drew several million votes have similarly declined early endorsements, leaving both campaigns three weeks to court moderates. Markets watched the tally closely; analysts said a Bolsonaro presidency could deepen alignment with Washington on trade and rare minerals, while a Lula victory would likely preserve Brazil’s closer commercial relationship with China.
The next presidential term begins Jan. 5, 2027. The Organization of American States’ electoral observation mission said Sunday’s voting proceeded smoothly under adequate security. Brazilian authorities again defended the electronic ballot system introduced in the 1990s, noting that rapid publication of results has historically limited space for fraud claims. Both candidates enter the runoff with high negatives: polls show large shares of voters disapprove of the Bolsonaro family and of Lula’s party alike.
Sources: Associated Press, Agência Brasil, The Guardian
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