Lula clinches record fourth term, beating Flávio Bolsonaro

Lula wins historic fourth term in Brazil

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured a fourth term on Sunday, defeating far‑right challenger Flávio Bolsonaro in the runoff election. With 99 % of votes counted, Lula earned 51.75 % of the ballot to Bolsonaro’s 48.25 %, a margin of roughly 4.3 million votes.

Vote count and turnout

The runoff saw a modest drop in abstention compared with the first round – from 21.08 % to 19.21 % – suggesting a surge in voter mobilisation that benefitted the incumbent. Lula, who turned 80 last year and will celebrate his 81st birthday on Tuesday, managed to overturn a first‑round loss that had left his supporters in “three weeks of despair”, according to on‑the‑ground reports.

Key moments and reactions

Lula’s allies credited a last‑minute push to get supporters to the polls. Reginaldo Lopes, a senior Lula campaign operative, told reporters, “I feel incredible … this is Brazil telling the world that the extreme right is fascist, that the extreme right is against black people, the poor, the state, gay people … we are going to reorganise the democratic forces in this country.”

Supporters gathered in massive numbers in São Paulo’s Paulista Avenue and Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach, with estimates of over a million people in the latter. Truck driver Josias Silva, speaking at the Rio rally, said he was “confident of a Lula comeback” after weeks of anti‑Bolsonaro protests.

What the victory means

Lula’s win ends a brief interlude in which the Bolsonaro family hoped to regain the presidency. Jair Bolsonaro, the former president and father of Flávio, is serving a 27‑year prison sentence for a failed coup plot. Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, was hoping to ride on his father’s political legacy and the support of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who had praised the younger Bolsonaro as a “Trump‑aligned” leader in the region.

The result is a setback for right‑wing forces across Latin America that have been gaining ground in recent elections. Analysts note that Lula’s ability to rally his traditional base, especially among lower‑income voters in rural and peri‑urban areas, was decisive.

Looking ahead

Lula’s fourth term will see him navigate a fragmented Congress, ongoing economic challenges, and a polarized electorate. His government has pledged to continue social programmes that lifted millions out of poverty during his earlier terms, while also seeking to stabilise the economy amid high inflation and external debt pressures.

The Electoral Court has officially declared Lula the winner, and the president‑elect is set to be inaugurated in early January, marking the end of a contentious election cycle that tested Brazil’s democratic institutions.