Lula wins fourth term as Brazil's president, defeating Flavio Bolsonaro in run-off

SAO PAULO — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won a fourth term in a presidential run-off on Sunday, 25 October, the country's electoral court announced, defeating Senator Flavio Bolsonaro by more than four million votes.

With nearly all polling stations closed, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) said Lula had 51.76 percent of valid votes and Bolsonaro 48.24 percent, according to Antara, which reported the figures from Bogota. BBC Bangla gave the same percentages.

Bolsonaro has not accepted the result. He has called for the vote to be annulled, according to Al Jazeera, citing a two-hour extension of voting time that Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin granted on election day. Al Jazeera reported that Bolsonaro called the extension "unacceptable". It also reported that both candidates had asked for extra voting time. BBC Bangla said Bolsonaro refused to concede and demanded the result be cancelled.

Lula's term is due to begin on 5 January 2027, according to Antara and BBC Bangla.

A reversal from the first round

Bolsonaro led the first round on 4 October with 47.03 percent, against 45.16 percent for Lula, according to Antara. The agency said Lula is the first candidate since Brazil adopted the two-round system in 1989 to win a run-off after finishing second in the first round.

Antara reported that the race was close as results came in. Lula's lead grew as votes were counted from large cities and from the densely populated northeast.

BBC Bangla said few people had expected Lula to turn the result around in three weeks. It said street rallies and a heavy social media campaign helped his comeback. Arab News described the result as a surprise that went against polls, precedent and a wider anti-incumbent mood. It said the result halted a run of right-wing election wins in Latin America.

Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, is the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Antara said the result ended the family's attempt to return to the presidency.

Lula and his running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, addressed supporters at a victory rally in Sao Paulo, according to an Associated Press photo caption published by Al Jazeera.

In a post on Telegram, Al Jazeera Arabic's news channel quoted Lula as saying the election was a "defeat for the axis of lies, rumours and fake news". The post was a headline only. This report has not independently confirmed the wording or the context.

International reaction

Leaders and politicians in several countries congratulated Lula, Al Jazeera reported.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on X: "Long live democracy, the people of Brazil won." Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney thanked Lula for advancing relations between the two countries. He wrote that Canada and Brazil should "seize this opportunity to strengthen them further".

Chile's president, Jose Antonio Kast, said he phoned Lula to congratulate him. He said on X that the two countries would work on economic integration and on fighting organised crime in the region. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel called the win "historic" in a post on X.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, said at a regular briefing that Beijing congratulated Lula. He said China was "willing to work with Brazil to continue advancing the building of a China-Brazil community with a shared future". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Lula had done a lot for bilateral ties and for the BRICS group of countries, and that Moscow hoped for more of the same.

In the United States, reactions split along political lines. Senator Bernie Sanders congratulated Lula on what he called an "extraordinary re-election victory". New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on X: "The people united will never be defeated!" A statement from the media office of California Governor Gavin Newsom said he was "proud to stand with Brazil and partners around the world" who share a commitment to defending democracy.

Congressman Ro Khanna also posted on X.

"People all across the world are fighting back against extremism. With Lula in Brazil, they just won." — Ro Khanna, US congressman

Khanna added that President Donald Trump "must respect the results and not undermine Brazil's elections".

Donald Trump Jr criticised the outcome, citing the two-hour extension. He said that if a conservative government in Brazil had done this, "everyone in the mainstream press in America would lose their minds".

In a Telegram post, Quds News Network said Flavio Bolsonaro had been courted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who it said phoned him after the first round and invited him to Israel. No other source in the material reviewed for this report confirms that claim.

Background

Lula, a former metalworker, first ran for president in 1989, according to BBC Bangla. He served two terms from January 2003 to December 2010. Antara said he won a third term in 2022. The new term would be his fourth, and his third after a break in office.

BBC Bangla said Lula faces constraints at home and abroad. It described the incoming Congress as the most right-wing of Brazil's democratic era. It said more than 48 percent of voters chose Bolsonaro, which shows the country remains deeply divided.

The broadcaster said Lula will also have to deal with the hostile attitude of the Trump administration. It said Trump did not directly endorse Flavio Bolsonaro but had backed right-wing winners in presidential elections in Colombia and Honduras. Quds News Network said in its post that Bolsonaro campaigned on his closeness to Trump, whose administration has imposed high tariffs on Brazil.

According to BBC Bangla, Bolsonaro promised to bring Brazil closer to Washington. Lula warned the United States not to interfere in the election and said Brazil would never be "someone else's backyard".

BBC Bangla said Brazil is the only large South American country without a right-wing government. Argentina, Chile and Colombia have conservative leaders. It also noted that Brazil has the world's second-largest reserves of rare earth minerals.

Environmental groups said deforestation and fires in the Amazon reached record levels under Jair Bolsonaro, according to BBC Bangla. The broadcaster said they feared looser environmental policy if his son won.

BBC Bangla also linked to an earlier report that Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison over a plot to overturn the result of a previous election. That report is dated September 2025.