Brazil 2026 Election Results: Explained — How Lula Made a Surprising Return | A list of factors played in his favor | Today’s news
Leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured an unprecedented victory in Brazil’s recently concluded presidential election on Sunday.
Elected to a record fourth term as president, Lula cemented his place as one of the world’s longest-serving democratically elected leaders. Lula previously served two terms as president from January 2003 to December 2010 and again from January 2023.
He came from behind to win the second round of Brazil’s election, defying predictions that the 80-year-old had finally reached the end of his extraordinary career.
How did Lula make a surprising comeback?
Lula Da Silva became the first presidential candidate in Brazil’s modern democratic history to lose the first round of the election but win the second round.
Lula won 51.8 percent of the vote to 48.2 percent for far-right Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, with more than 99 percent of votes counted in the second round, the electoral authority said, as cited by the Wall Street Journal.
It was the second round of elections, which ended on Sunday. In the first round, Flávio won the most votes, 47 percent, two percentage points more than Lula, corresponding to a difference of 2.2 million votes.
In Sunday’s second round, Lula overturned that result, beating his opponent by more than four million votes.
Sunday’s result followed a chaotic election day marked by allegations of voter suppression and a last-minute extension of polling hours, the report added.
It was a stunning comeback, sealed late when voters in Lula’s northeastern stronghold rallied behind one of Latin America’s most prominent opponents of Trumpism.
Lula will now begin his fourth term as Brazil’s president, the second in a row, on January 5 at the age of 81.
5 factors that played in Lulina’s favor?
1. “Leave Bolsonaro out”
With the historic victory, Lula bucked the trend in Latin America, where voters in recent elections have shifted to the right and chosen right-wing allies of US President Donald Trump.
For many Brazilians, the election was about more than keeping da Silva in power, the Wall Street Journal reported. They reportedly saw a vote for him as a vote to keep the Bolsonaros out and preserve the country’s hard-won democracy.
“We have to do what we can to protect Brazil’s democracy,” said Karina da Silva Pereira, a 50-year-old lawyer from São Paulo.
After Jair Bolsonaro’s attempt to take power by force four years ago, she said she felt compelled to vote to keep the family out of power. “It was a risk we couldn’t take.
2. Persuasion
Lula Da Silva’s surprise victory on Sunday came after he convinced millions of Brazilians who missed the first round of voting to vote for him in the second round, despite heavy rains lashing much of the country.
His Workers’ Party asked for the vote to be extended on Sunday after reports that some local governments had cut the number of buses serving poorer voters who tend to support the president.
Lula’s campaign stepped up efforts to mobilize voters who stayed home in the first round while portraying Bolsonaro’s proposed spending cuts as a threat to public services and welfare benefits.
3. Take focus away from Trump
After his failure in the first round, Lula da Silva shifted his campaign from warning against US interference in Brazilian elections to the economic frustration of ordinary voters.
According to the WSJ, he has promised to increase payments under the Bolsa Família welfare program, pushed for a shorter work week with no pay cuts and proposed blanket debt relief for struggling households.
He also ran free public transport on weekends and sought to reconnect with poorer voters who had long formed the backbone of his support.
4. A tough message on crime
Da Silva also toughened his message on crime, breaking with his party’s traditional stance of supporting the prosecution of 16-year-olds as adults for particularly serious crimes.
5. Social media push
Lula’s campaign came back to life after his defeat in the first round, led by street demonstrations and a massive push on social media, the BBC reported.
What does Lula’s victory mean for Trump?
Da Silva’s victory sets the stage for renewed tensions with Washington, the WSJ reported.
After a string of victories for conservative candidates from Argentina and Chile to Colombia and Peru in recent years, Brazil’s decision to stick with the left belies President Trump as a powerful ally in Latin America, a major source of critical minerals needed for everything from electric vehicles to weapons systems.
Trump has praised Bolsonaro and repeatedly clashed with da Silva over trade, Brazil’s prosecution of the former president and what the Brazilian leader called US election meddling.
The dispute escalated into a tariff and diplomatic spat over visas, although the two governments continued to negotiate a trade deal.
(With inputs from the Wall Street Journal)
