Lula Wins Fourth Term After Historical Turnout Surge

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has secured a fourth term as president of Brazil, defeating far-right challenger Flávio Bolsonaro in a runoff held on Sunday.

With 99% of ballots counted, Lula received 51.75% of the vote compared to Bolsonaro's 48.25%. The 80-year-old former metalworker reversed a 2.2 million vote deficit from the first round in early October to finish ahead by 4.3 million votes.

The victory represents a statistical anomaly for Brazilian democracy. Since the return to democratic rule in the 1980s, no candidate who finished second in the first round has ever won the subsequent runoff. The narrow initial loss had raised questions about Lula's political viability and caused concern among his base for three weeks.

Turnout shifts drove the reversal. Abstention in the first round reached a record 21.08%, a rate that disproportionately harmed Lula because his supporters often live farther from polling stations. In the runoff, abstention fell to 19.21%. Reginaldo Lopes, a key Lula ally, described the result as "incredible" and stated that Brazil would now "reorganize the democratic forces."

The result complicates the political outlook for the Bolsonaro family. Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup, lives under house arrest in Brasília. He had anticipated a role in government if his son won. The outcome also counters the strategy of US President Donald Trump, who had sought to build a bloc of pro-Trump leaders in Latin America, including Abelardo de la Espriella, Daniel Noboa, José Antonio Kast, and Javier Milei.

Supporters demonstrated their support on Saturday with rallies on Copacabana beach in Rio and Paulista Avenue in São Paulo, where more than a million people gathered. On Sunday evening, crowds returned to Paulista Avenue to watch the count. Camilo Buarque, 35, said, "This is democracy." Lucas Lopes, 32, called an apparent effort by pro-Bolsonaro politicians to disrupt public transport "another coup attempt." The effort failed, and photographer Caio Marques, 40, noted that the left "woke up" in the second round.