Lula Wins Brazil's Presidential Runoff, Securing a Fourth Term

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won Brazil's presidential runoff against Flávio Bolsonaro, claiming a fourth term in office. Brazil's electoral authority, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), said on Sunday that Lula had won the election.

With nearly 99% of the votes counted in the runoff, Lula had 51.75% to Flávio Bolsonaro's 48.25%, according to The Guardian. The Guardian put Lula's margin at 4.3 million votes in the runoff.

The runoff is the second round of voting, held between the two candidates who finish first and second in the opening round. That first round took place on October 4. In it, Flávio Bolsonaro received 56,104,268 votes, or 47.03% of valid votes, while Lula received 53,876,617, or 45.16%, according to the TSE. Lula therefore trailed by about 2.2 million votes after the first round, a gap he closed in the runoff.

According to the Guardian, Lula's runoff win makes him the first candidate to finish second in the first round and then win the runoff since Brazil returned to democracy in the 1980s.

Turnout also shifted between the two votes. Abstention, the share of eligible voters who did not cast a ballot, was a record 21.08% in the first round and fell to 19.21% in the runoff, the Guardian reported.

Lula is a former metalworker and union leader whose path to the presidency took several attempts. He lost presidential bids in 1989, 1994 and 1998 before becoming Brazil's first elected working-class president in 2002. He stepped down after serving the maximum two consecutive terms allowed under Brazil's constitution, and returned to power after winning the 2022 election against then-incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. The TSE recorded that result as 50.83% for Lula to 49.17% for Bolsonaro.

Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, is a senator and the son of Jair Bolsonaro. The elder Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup, according to the Guardian.