Lula Wins Fourth Term in Brazil After Historic Comeback Over Flávio Bolsonaro

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won a fourth term as president of Brazil, defeating far-right challenger Flávio Bolsonaro in a runoff held on Sunday after a dramatic recovery from a setback earlier this month.

With nearly 99% of ballots counted, Lula had 51.75% of the vote against 48.25% for Bolsonaro, who is 45. Lula, who is 80 and turns 81 on Tuesday, trailed by 2.2 million votes after the first round in early October. He ended up ahead by 4.3 million.

The result is unprecedented. Since Brazil returned to democracy in the 1980s, no candidate who finished second in the first round had ever gone on to win the runoff. The narrow first-round loss had cast doubt on Lula's political future and left progressive Brazilians despondent for three weeks.

Much of the swing appears to have come from turnout, which Lula's allies had named as his best opening. The first round saw a record abstention rate of 21.08%, which hurt Lula disproportionately because his voters tend to live farther from polling stations. In the runoff, abstention fell to 19.21%.

Reginaldo Lopes, a key Lula ally, told the Guardian he felt "incredible" as the result was confirmed. He described the outcome as Brazil sending a message to the world about the extreme right and said the country would now "reorganize the democratic forces."

Lula's career began in the late 1970s, when he rose as a union leader in the industrial suburbs of São Paulo. Born into rural poverty and later a factory worker, he lost three presidential bids, in 1989, 1994 and 1998, before becoming Brazil's first elected working-class president in 2002. He left office after the two consecutive terms the constitution allows, then returned by winning the 2022 election against the then incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, the father of this year's challenger.

The outcome is a setback for the Bolsonaro family. Jair Bolsonaro was later jailed for plotting a coup and is serving a 27-year sentence. He had hoped to be freed and given a role in government if his son won. He is living under house arrest in Brasília, where his son watched the count, and confirmation of Lula's win was met there with anger and bewilderment.

It is also a blow to US President Donald Trump, the Bolsonaro family's most important international ally. Trump had hoped Brazil would join a run of pro-Trump leaders in Latin America, including Abelardo de la Espriella in Colombia, Daniel Noboa in Ecuador, José Antonio Kast in Chile and Javier Milei in Argentina.

Lula's supporters showed their strength on Saturday, when more than a million people gathered on Rio's Copacabana beach and an even larger crowd marched on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo. The rallies followed weeks of student-led protests against Bolsonaro. On Sunday evening, hundreds returned to Paulista Avenue to watch the count, waving red flags bearing the president's face. "This is democracy," said Camilo Buarque, 35.

Many in São Paulo were angry over an apparent attempt by pro-Bolsonaro politicians to disrupt the vote by sabotaging public transport in areas that lean toward Lula. Lucas Lopes, 32, called it "another coup attempt." The alleged effort failed. "In the first round the left failed. But in the second round they woke up," said photographer Caio Marques, 40, from Franca.