For the first time in Brazil's history, one person was elected president for a fourth term. The current head of state, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, retained his position. It defied predictions and widespread anti-government sentiment and ended a wave of right-wing victories in Latin America. According to preliminary data, Lola received 52% of the votes. Lula's opponent, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, has refused to concede defeat and is seeking to annul the results because of a Supreme Court judge's decision to extend the vote by two hours. Bolsonaro led in the first round but lost the second with 4 million fewer votes, shaking the financial markets. The refusal to admit defeat is reminiscent of the behavior of his father, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison for an attempted coup after losing to Lula in 2022. Analysts consider the nullification of the results unlikely: Flavio's defeat is twice as big as his father's, and his own headquarters asked to extend the vote due to the rains. Lula's victory is another payoff for the 80-year-old politician, a symbol of the global left. He was jailed from 2018 to 2019 on corruption charges that were later dropped, allowing him to defeat Jair Bolsonaro in 2022. Re-election seemed unlikely: voters were fed up with corruption scandals and rising prices. But Lula won thanks to a high turnout of voters who preferred business as usual over change. In the campaign, he pointed to declines in poverty, unemployment and deforestation and warned that Bolsonaro would cut social spending and hand sovereignty over to Trump. In the past, the US State Department supported Bolsonaro. Lula's victory deprives Trump of an ally in the bloc of right-wing Latin American governments. At the end of the campaign, Lula promised free transportation on weekends, a 15% increase in his social security program and major labor reform.

For the first time in Brazil's history, one person was elected president for a fourth term. The current head of state, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, retained his position. It defied predictions and widespread anti-government sentiment and ended a wave of right-wing victories in Latin America. According to preliminary data, Lola received 52% of the votes. Lula's opponent, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, has refused to concede defeat and is seeking to annul the results because of a Supreme Court judge's decision to extend the vote by two hours. Bolsonaro led in the first round but lost the second with 4 million fewer votes, shaking the financial markets. The refusal to admit defeat is reminiscent of the behavior of his father, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison for an attempted coup after losing to Lula in 2022. Analysts consider the nullification of the results unlikely: Flavio's defeat is twice as big as his father's, and his own headquarters asked to extend the vote due to the rains. Lula's victory is another payoff for the 80-year-old politician, a symbol of the global left. He was jailed from 2018 to 2019 on corruption charges that were later dropped, allowing him to defeat Jair Bolsonaro in 2022. Re-election seemed unlikely: voters were fed up with corruption scandals and rising prices. But Lula won thanks to a high turnout of voters who preferred business as usual over change. In the campaign, he pointed to declines in poverty, unemployment and deforestation and warned that Bolsonaro would cut social spending and hand sovereignty over to Trump. In the past, the US State Department supported Bolsonaro. Lula's victory deprives Trump of an ally in the bloc of right-wing Latin American governments. At the end of the campaign, Lula promised free transportation on weekends, a 15% increase in his social security program and major labor reform.