Brazil's presidential race heads to Lula-Bolsonaro runoff as right gains ground

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Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (left) and presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, right, face off in an Oct. 25 runoff after a tight first round. Mauro Pimentel, Sergio Lima/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil's presidential race is heading to a runoff between left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro after neither candidate secured the more than 50% of valid votes needed to win outright.

The race was tight, with Bolsonaro finishing ahead of Lula in Sunday's first-round election. With more than 99% of the vote counted, Bolsonaro secured roughly 47% of the vote, while Lula came in second place with 45%.

If that sounds like déjà vu, it's because in many ways, this election is a rerun: Lula narrowly defeated Bolsonaro's father, former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, in 2022. Jair Bolsonaro is now serving a 27-year prison sentence under house arrest after being convicted of plotting to overturn that election and prevent Lula from taking office.

Flávio Bolsonaro has pledged to carry on his father's legacy. Speaking to journalists and supporters outside his home in Brasília after the results came in, he said the vote showed Brazilians were ready for a political change.

"Brazil wants change, that's the reading of what happened today," Bolsonaro said. "It's the end of the Workers' Party era," he added, referring to Lula's political party.

Sunday's results also pointed to a broader rightward shift in Brazilian politics, with the Bolsonaro camp performing strongly across the country.

Lula sought to rally his supporters in São Paulo, framing the next stage of the campaign as a fresh contest.

"Tomorrow we start a new campaign," Lula said. "I am very good in the knockout stage. We will see who has the best plan."

Lula also took aim at his opponent, warning voters about Bolsonaro's political background. "On the other side we have an uncertainty with a biography of a dark past," he said.

The presidential candidates who came in third, fourth, and fifth place are all right-wing, suggesting that Bolsonaro could have a natural pool of voters to draw from in the runoff. That could set the stage for another extremely tight contest on Oct. 25.