A Brazil election runoff is set for Oct. 25, 2026, after Liberal Party (PL) senator Flávio Bolsonaro finished first in the Oct. 4 first round with about 47.0 percent of valid votes to 45.2 percent for incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party (PT), the BBC reported.
Neither candidate cleared the 50 percent threshold needed to win outright, so the two will face each other again in three weeks. Final-round polling had shown a near tie: Quaest put Lula at 46 percent of valid votes and Bolsonaro at 45 percent, while Datafolha had them at 45 and 42, according to O Globo.
First-round results in Brazil’s presidential election
With essentially all ballots counted, Bolsonaro received roughly 56.1 million votes and Lula about 53.9 million, based on Superior Electoral Court (TSE) figures compiled by results tracker CGN. Among the 11 other candidates, author Augusto Cury of Avante took about 2.9 percent, Renan Santos of Missão about 2.2 percent and Ronaldo Caiado of the PSD about 2.2 percent. Roughly 21 percent of registered voters abstained.
The PL also elected the most governors, senators and federal deputies in the results available Sunday night, positioning it as the largest force in Congress, the BBC reported. Michelle Bolsonaro, wife of former President Jair Bolsonaro, was elected to the Senate.
What the candidates said after the vote
Bolsonaro, 45, said he was “very happy” with the result and confident of winning the runoff. “I am very happy with the real possibility that, three weeks from now, Brazil will give a definitive answer by choosing a modern government,” he said, according to AFP.
Lula, 80, called the result “unexpected” but said the race was not over. “I admit I was convinced I would win in the first round,” he said. “The game is about to start. We are in extra time.” Lula is seeking a fourth term after winning in 2002, 2006 and 2022.
Flávio Bolsonaro is the eldest son of Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted of plotting a coup following his 2022 defeat and was barred from running. Flávio has pledged amnesty for his father and for those convicted over the Jan. 8, 2023, riots in Brasília if elected.
Key issues for the Brazil election runoff
Crime, the economy, corruption and national sovereignty dominated the campaign, according to the BBC. Bolsonaro has pledged to designate major Brazilian gangs as terrorist organizations, build maximum-security prisons, set a public debt ceiling, cut spending, revise social welfare programs and expand the critical minerals sector. Lula has emphasized social programs such as Bolsa Família, reforms targeting organized-crime finances and his record on reducing Amazon deforestation.
Both campaigns were touched by the scandal surrounding jailed banker Daniel Vorcaro. Bolsonaro acknowledged asking Vorcaro to finance a biopic about his father after recordings surfaced, while police alleged Vorcaro had sought help from Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who denies wrongdoing.
U.S.–Brazil relations and the regional picture
Lula made sovereignty a central campaign theme and at times accused the United States of trying to influence the election, which Washington has denied. The head of Brazil’s electoral court said Sunday that no evidence of foreign interference had been found. The BBC noted that a Bolsonaro win would likely bring Brazil into the U.S.-led “Shield of Americas” anti-narcotics coalition and closer alignment with Washington.
The result comes amid broader political shifts across South America, from Venezuela’s Supreme Court reform deal and prisoner releases to the Guyana–Venezuela Essequibo dispute at the UN. Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, will settle its own direction when voters return to the polls on Oct. 25 for the Brazil election runoff.