World
Lula wins fourth term in Brazil runoff; Flávio Bolsonaro refuses to concede and seeks annulment
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Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a fourth term as Brazil's president on Sunday, defeating far-right Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in a runoff with 51.8% of valid votes to Bolsonaro's 48.2%, according to Superior Electoral Court figures reported by CNBC. Bolsonaro refused to concede and said he would seek to have the result annulled, CNBC reported, citing Reuters.
The outcome keeps Latin America's largest economy under a left-of-center government that has openly clashed with U.S. President Donald Trump. It is also the second consecutive presidential election in which the losing side has disputed the result. In 2022, Lula defeated Bolsonaro's father, Jair Bolsonaro, who was later convicted of attempting a coup to overturn that result. Lula begins his new term facing pressure from financial markets and rising public debt.
Lula's victory reverses the result of the first round earlier this month, when Bolsonaro finished ahead by about 2.2 million votes. CBS News put the first-round split at 47% to 45%. The Guardian described the gap as less than 2% of the vote and the narrowest ever recorded in a first round.
According to CNBC and CBS News, this is the first time a candidate has won Brazil's presidency after finishing second in the first round since the country returned to democracy. CNBC counted from the return of direct presidential elections in 1989, and CBS News from the end of the military dictatorship in 1985.
With all votes counted, Lula led by nearly 4.4 million votes, CBS News reported. In the first round, more than 33 million of nearly 160 million registered voters did not vote, according to ABC News and CBS News. The Guardian reported that first-round abstention reached a record high and fell disproportionately on Lula's supporters.
Bolsonaro's challenge centers on a ruling by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin to keep polls open for two more hours on Sunday. Polls had been due to close nationwide at 5 p.m. Brasília time. Reports differ on when the order came:
Both campaigns had asked for more voting time. Lula's campaign cited problems with buses that carry voters to the polls. CBS News named São Paulo and Salvador, two cities that tend to favor Lula, while ABC News reported bus problems in nine states. Bolsonaro's campaign cited heavy rain in the south, where he has strong support.
The order caused confusion on the ground, according to ABC News and CBS News. At one counting site in Brasília, most volunteers had left 15 to 20 minutes after closing. At a polling station in Rio de Janeiro, voting machines had already been switched off and could not be restarted. CBS News reported that it was unclear how many stations remained open.
Bolsonaro called the extension "unacceptable," CNBC reported, citing Reuters. Nikolas Ferreira, a Bolsonaro ally, noted that Zanin had previously served as Lula's lawyer, according to CBS News.
In his victory speech, Lula called the result a defeat for denialism and lies and pledged to respect all Brazilians, according to CBS News. He also returned to the theme of national sovereignty that ran through his campaign. "This country will not accept being anyone's backyard," he said.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump declined to back either candidate. "We are watching," he told reporters, ABC News reported. Peru's president, Keiko Fujimori, and Uruguay's president, Yamandú Orsi, congratulated Lula, CNBC reported.
Markets fell sharply. The iShares MSCI Brazil exchange-traded fund dropped nearly 20% in overnight trading, CNBC reported, adding that investors had seen Bolsonaro as more likely to pursue austerity and deregulation. Citing the Central Bank of Brazil, CNBC reported that gross public debt reached 82.9% of GDP in August, the highest level since March 2021.
Lula, 80, first governed Brazil from 2003 to 2010. He was jailed in 2018 on corruption convictions that the Supreme Court later annulled, and he returned to defeat Jair Bolsonaro in 2022.
Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence for the coup attempt and is under house arrest, The Guardian reported. Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, had promised to pardon his father or seek amnesty for him if elected.
The younger Bolsonaro remains under investigation. CBS News reported that one inquiry concerns his admission that he accepted about $12 million from former banker Daniel Vorcaro to fund a film about his father. The Guardian reported that he is the subject of two federal police inquiries into alleged corruption and money laundering.
According to The Guardian, right-wing candidates had won all seven presidential elections held in Latin America since Trump began his second term. ABC News reported that Trump allies won elections this year in Chile, Peru and Colombia.
Lula's new term begins on Jan. 5, 2027, according to CBS News. He will face a Congress in which Bolsonaro's Liberal Party holds its largest bloc in decades, CNBC reported. Goldman Sachs analysts cited by CNBC expect modest spending restraint and higher taxes rather than major structural reform. The immediate question is whether Bolsonaro files a formal legal challenge to the extended voting, and how the courts respond if he does.
Sources: CNBC – World, Reuters – World, CBS News – World, ABC News – International, The Guardian – World
Picture: CNBC – World
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