Brazil election heads to runoff after Bolsonaro leads Lula in first round

Brazil’s presidential election is heading to a runoff between Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after neither candidate won enough votes to secure victory in the first round. With more than 99% of ballots processed, Bolsonaro had received 47.2% of the vote, compared with 45% for Lula. The country’s electoral court announced that the two candidates would face each other on October 25.

Lula, 80, said the result was unexpected because he had believed he would win outright. He said a new campaign would begin immediately and declared that he was “very good in the knockout stage”. Bolsonaro, 45, said he was pleased by the possibility that Brazil would choose what he called a modern government.

He is seeking to continue the right-wing populist movement associated with his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro. Lula is campaigning on the Workers’ Party platform of welfare programmes, state-funded development and income redistribution. Bolsonaro has emphasised security policies, tax cuts and the cost of living, saying Brazil needs change.

Fabio de Sa e Silva, a Brazilian studies professor at the University of Oklahoma, told DW that the right was gaining momentum. He said Lula could still win but would face difficulty governing because the new Congress had also shifted to the far right. The election has been bitterly contested, with both campaigns using online videos, accusations and AI-generated images.

Flávio Bolsonaro has also pledged to pardon his father, who is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting to overturn his 2022 election defeat.