Lula wins Brazil election runoff on Sunday, 25 October 2026, securing a fourth term as president by nearly 4.4 million votes over conservative Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.
According to the Associated Press, Brazil’s electoral court declared Lula the winner after 100% of votes were counted, with the incumbent taking 51.8% of the total vote and leading Flávio Bolsonaro by nearly 4.4 million votes. He is due to begin a non-consecutive fourth term on Tuesday, 5 January 2027.
Lula wins Brazil election after voting extension
The runoff followed a first round on Sunday, 4 October 2026, in which Bolsonaro finished first with 47% to Lula’s 45%, a gap of about 2.2 million votes. Lula’s victory is the first time since 1985 that the first-round runner-up has won Brazil’s presidency.
Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin extended voting nationwide by two hours, ruling shortly before polls were due to close at 17:00 Brasília time (22:00 SAST). Both campaigns had asked for more time. Lula’s request followed bus transport problems in São Paulo and Salvador, while Bolsonaro’s followed heavy rain in southern Brazil. Polls closed at 19:00 (00:00 SAST on Monday, 26 October 2026).
What did Bolsonaro say after Lula won the Brazil election?
Flávio Bolsonaro refused to concede and asked for the results to be annulled. He also criticised Zanin, a former lawyer for Lula, for altering the voting rules while the election was under way. Explaining his refusal to accept the outcome, Bolsonaro said:
It’s impossible to recognize the results of the election in the context of these things that happened.
Court president Kassio Nunes Marques, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by former president Jair Bolsonaro, said the extension of voting hours did not affect the results. Law professor Joao Pedro Padua said annulment would require proof that the extension affected voters’ ability to express their will, and that there is little legal basis for it.
What Lula’s fourth term means for Brazil and the US
In his victory speech, Lula, a vocal critic of United States President Donald Trump, spoke about Brazil’s place in the hemisphere. Trump had not formally endorsed Bolsonaro but made his preference for the challenger clear. Lula said:
This country will not accept being anyone’s backyard.
Trump has imposed tariffs on Brazil, whose economy produces about $2.6 trillion a year. Lula hosted the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro in July 2025, where the bloc’s leaders faced Trump’s tariff threats. Mexico and Brazil, Latin America’s two most populous nations, now both have left-of-centre leaders.
Lula, who is 80 and soon turns 81, spent 580 days in prison before his convictions were annulled. Both candidates faced corruption suspicions involving family members and allies, and Lula will govern with one of the most conservative Congresses in the country’s history.
Flávio Bolsonaro can request a recount if he has evidence of fraud, though that might not change the outcome, and the electoral court is due to certify the result in December. His father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup after losing to Lula in 2022.
Sources
- Associated Press, Lula is declared winner of Brazil's election as Bolsonaro rejects results (via CBN)
- Associated Press, Lula beats Bolsonaro in Brazil runoff, securing fourth presidential term (via PBS NewsHour)
- Associated Press, Incumbent leftist Lula da Silva wins fourth term as Brazil's president (via Fox News)
- HNGN, Lula wins record fourth term after comeback in Brazil runoff
- Al Jazeera, Brazil election results 2026 updates: Lula beats Bolsonaro in tight race
- Swisher Post, BRICS Summit in Rio places Trump tariff threats on the pendulum
