Lula Wins
Brazil's Lula wins a historic fourth term after trailing in round one, as Bolsonaro refuses to concede defeat.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a fourth term as Brazil's president Sunday, overturning a first-round loss. Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, his rival, refused to concede.
Brazil's Superior Electoral Court put the final tally at 51.8% to 48.2% in Lula's favor, according to CNBC. Bolsonaro rejected the result and demanded it be annulled, the Guardian reported.
The win makes Lula, 80, the first president in Brazilian history to serve four terms, ABC News reported. He first won the presidency in 2002, was jailed in 2018 after a conviction the Supreme Court later annulled, and beat Jair Bolsonaro in 2022, ABC News reported.
Sunday's result was also the first time a candidate who lost the first round went on to win the runoff since Brazil returned to civilian rule, though outlets differ on which year that happened. CNBC cited 1989, when direct elections resumed. The Guardian said 1988, democracy's return. ABC News said 1985, military rule's end.
Brazilian markets fell sharply on the news, CNBC reported. The iShares MSCI Brazil ETF dropped 25% in premarket trading. Petrobras fell 24%, Itaú Unibanco 26%, Ambev 13%, and Vale 3.3%, CNBC said.
Bolsonaro, 45, called Justice Cristiano Zanin's decision to extend voting by two hours unacceptable, Reuters reported, according to CNBC. Lula's campaign reported suspended public transportation in some areas. Bolsonaro's campaign blamed heavy rain for closing polling stations in the south. A stronghold for his party, CNBC reported.
Lula will take office facing public debt equal to 82.9% of Brazil's GDP as of August, the highest level since March 2021, according to the Central Bank of Brazil, CNBC reported. He will need to convince investors that Brazil can stabilize that debt, Atlantic Council fellow Alejo Czerwonko told CNBC.
The result keeps distance between Brazil and Washington, ABC News reported, noting Lula has long criticized President Trump. Trump called Bolsonaro's first-round lead a very big victory, CNBC reported. Leaders across Latin America congratulated Lula. Trump had not commented by early Monday, the Guardian reported.
Lula's new term begins Jan. 5, 2027, the Guardian and ABC News reported. He will govern with a Congress where Bolsonaro's Liberal Party holds its largest bench in decades, CNBC reported.
Jair Bolsonaro, the senator's father and a former president, never accepted his own 2022 loss to Lula. He was later sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup to stay in power, the Guardian reported.