Overview
- The candidates met for their first televised head‑to‑head on Sunday in São Paulo and traded sustained personal insults with few detailed policy proposals.
- Lula publicly challenged Flávio to open bank accounts and lift telephone secrecy for both families to prove who is corrupt, a demand Flávio did not accept on air.
- Flávio used the stage to pledge a hardline security plan that would declare a 'war on narcoterrorism' and seek to label PCC, Comando Vermelho and militias as narcoterrorist groups.
- Both men accused the other’s circle of ties to criminal or controversial figures, with Lula raising banker Daniel Vorcaro and a disputed film financing and Flávio pressing investigations linked to Lula’s son.
- Polls remain narrowly divided, a second debate is set for Friday, October 23, and the outcome will hinge on turnout among abstainers and late undecided voters in the final days before the October 25 runoff.