Lula Narrowly Beats Flávio Bolsonaro in Brazil's Runoff for an Unprecedented Fourth Term, Handing Latin America's Conservative Wave a Setback
The AP called the race for the incumbent after a last-minute two-hour voting extension that Bolsonaro could challenge. Fox says the right still holds a conservative Congress and has 2030 hopes.
Brazil's leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated conservative Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro in Sunday's presidential runoff, according to the Associated Press as reported by Fox News.
The result. The win gives Lula an unprecedented fourth term. Fox calls it a remarkable comeback, since Bolsonaro had led in tight polling and Brazil recently elected a conservative Congress aligned with the Bolsonaro agenda. Bolsonaro narrowly won the Oct. 4 first round, 47 percent to 45 percent, but fell short of the 50 percent needed to win outright.
The dispute. Fox says Lula's win followed chaos at polling places after a Supreme Court justice ordered a last-minute, two-hour voting extension. That move could draw a legal challenge from Bolsonaro, the report says. The piece does not give any ruling or filing yet.
How it split. Bolsonaro won comfortable margins in his southern strongholds, including Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul, but by smaller margins than in round one. Lula's strength in the Northeast held. Minas Gerais, often seen as the nation's bellwether, went from a 5-point Bolsonaro win in the first round to essentially tied. Bolsonaro had endorsements from first-round candidates Augusto Cury, Romeu Zema and Ronaldo Caiado. Fox says he made a cost-of-living case and a law-and-order pitch, but that was not enough against the Workers' Party machine and its social programs in the north and Northeast.
What comes next. Lula returns to a Congress Fox describes as one of the most conservative in the country's history. Fox says the Bolsonaro movement is "not going away" and looks ahead to 2030 and São Paulo Gov. Tarcísio de Freitas, who stepped aside this cycle. The loss ends a string of wins for Trump-backed right-wing candidates in Latin America. Fox says Trump did not officially endorse Bolsonaro but made his preference clear. Runoffs for governor were also held in five states and Brasília, with Bolsonaro-aligned candidates poised to win most, Fox says.
Note for readers: Fox's article was posted at 8:27 p.m. Eastern and relies on the AP for the call. Official final numbers and the margin were not given in the text, and the legal challenge is Fox's speculation, not a filing. We covered Brazil's quick vote count and the Bolsonaro "Shield of the Americas" pledge earlier this week.