Lula Wins Fourth Term as Brazil's President; Flávio Bolsonaro Refuses to Concede

With every ballot counted, Brazil's electoral court announced Sunday night that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who turns 81 soon, had won a fourth non-consecutive term as president. His margin over Flávio Bolsonaro was nearly 4.4 million votes, giving him 51.8% of the total. Bolsonaro did not concede. He asked for the results to be annulled.

His objection centers on a decision made three minutes before polls were due to close. Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ruled that voting should stay open two more hours, responding to requests from both campaigns. Lula's request followed problems with buses that carry voters to the polls in São Paulo and Salvador, two cities that tend to favor him. Bolsonaro's came because of heavy rain in southern Brazil, where he was favored. The extension delayed the tally by two hours, and it is unclear how many polling stations actually stayed open late. In Brasília, volunteers overseeing the count at a school debated whether to stay, and most left 15 to 20 minutes after polls closed. At one Rio de Janeiro station, the machines had already been switched off and could not be turned back on. Bolsonaro ally Nikolas Ferreira pointed out that Zanin was once Lula's lawyer. The ruling may lead to legal action by Bolsonaro.

The bus trouble was itself contested. In Bahia state, a Lula stronghold where voters rely heavily on buses, a state electoral judge said at least 75 public buses were blocked from leaving municipal garages, and he ordered the arrest of Salvador's mobility secretary, Pablo Souza. Mayor Bruno Reis, a Bolsonaro ally, blamed trade unionists for illegally putting Workers' Party materials on transit vehicles. Kassio Nunes Marques, who heads the Superior Electoral Court, said a report on the Bahia problems was being analyzed. Lula told the press, "We will not be robbed by mayors, governors or businessmen." International observers had said earlier in the day that voting was peaceful and transparent.

The result is unusual by Brazilian standards. Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, led the first round with 47% to Lula's 45%, a gap of 2.2 million votes, though more than 33 million of nearly 160 million voters stayed home. No second-place finisher in a first round had won the presidency since the military dictatorship ended in 1985. After that round, Lula reorganized his campaign, courted young voters, put millions of people on the streets in defense of democratic values, and leaned on government initiatives: debt relief for small businesses, free weekend public transportation, and a Senate vote backing an end to the six-day workweek.

The campaign turned on cost of living and security. Bolsonaro ran tough on crime and promised lower food prices, and he vowed to seek amnesty for his father, who is under house arrest for attempting a coup. His own campaign was clouded by his admission that he took about $12 million from disgraced former banker Daniel Vorcaro to produce a film about his father; he is under investigation for corruption, money laundering and tax evasion in the case. Lula, who once spent 580 days in prison on convictions later annulled, has also faced corruption suspicions involving family members and allies.

Voters spoke in familiar terms. Luzia da Souza, who runs a bar in Rio, called Lula "a man of the people" who knows poverty. Journalist Anderson Falcão called Bolsonaro's vision "exclusionary." On the other side, physiotherapist Fabianne Borges Santoro said prices and taxes are too high and that she once voted for Lula's party but now links it to corruption. Businessman Rodrigo Valentim, 51, said, "The country is collapsing."

In São Paulo, Lula celebrated at a hotel with first lady Rosângela da Silva, wearing star-shaped red glasses. He called the outcome "a defeat for denialism and lies" and declared that Brazil "will not accept being anyone's backyard." That line points to Washington. The Trump administration raised tariffs and classified drug-trafficking groups as foreign terrorist organizations, moves experts say may have been meant to make Lula look soft on crime. Bolsonaro touted his closeness to the White House and wants better deals, including on rare minerals, where Brazil estimates up to 21 million tons, second only to China. President Trump said he was watching but endorsed no one.

Lula's win leaves Brazil and Mexico, Latin America's two most populous nations, with left-of-center leaders, against a regional drift toward Trump-aligned right-of-center candidates. Brazil's economy is $2.6 trillion. The new term begins Jan. 5, 2027, if electoral authorities confirm the result. Watch for whether Bolsonaro files a legal challenge to Zanin's extension.