Lula Wins Re‑Election After Unprecedented Second‑Round Comeback

Overview

• With roughly 99% of ballots tallied late Sunday, October 25, 2026, the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral reported Lula won about 51.7% of valid votes versus Flávio Bolsonaro’s 48.3%, making him the first candidate to overturn a first‑round deficit in a modern Brazilian runoff.
• The count was interrupted when Supreme Court minister Cristiano Zanin granted a PT request to extend voting to 19:00 in locations with open sections, a move that halted initial tabulation and provoked immediate protests from the PL and campaign allies.
• Lula’s recovery followed a fast campaign recalibration between rounds that combined last‑minute policy measures such as MEI debt relief and Bolsa Família increases with an intense digital and street mobilization led in part by the 'Exército do Lula' channel.
• Despite the win, Lula will take office for a fourth direct‑vote term facing a more hostile Congress where the PL and right‑leaning blocs made gains, a shift that will force negotiations with centrist parties to pass budgetary or constitutional measures.
• Attention now turns to possible legal challenges and political maneuvers over the Zanin order, the new legislature’s control of key posts, and practical effects on social programs and services that voters said mattered most in the final days of the campaign.