Lula Wins Fourth Term in Brazil After Dramatic Election Comeback

What happened

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a fourth term on Sunday, beating right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro in a runoff that reversed the first-round result. Lula took 51.79% of the vote to Bolsonaro's 48.21%, a gap of 4.4 million votes.

The result was a comeback in the strict sense. Bolsonaro won the first round on October 4 with 47% against Lula's 45%. Lula's campaign then pushed hard on turnout after 33 million people stayed home in round one. Sunday produced the largest drop in abstention between a first and second round since 1989, according to the BBC.

Lula celebrated on the streets of São Paulo, telling supporters the election was a "loss for negativity, lies" and adding "long live democracy". He promised his fourth term would be the one in which he listened most to the Brazilian people. Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin told him he had "saved Brazilian democracy" for a second time.

Bolsonaro has so far refused to accept the result. He called it "inexplicable" and "impossible" and asked for it to be annulled. Electoral law experts told BBC Brasil that annulment looks remote, given the size of the margin and the fact that Brazil's election dates are fixed by the constitution.

In an unusual twist, voting was extended by two hours on Sunday evening after both campaigns asked for more time. Lula's team said voters in São Paulo and Bahia could not reach polling stations because buses were lacking. Bolsonaro's campaign pointed to heavy rain in the south and in São Paulo. The Supreme Court issued the extension just as polls were due to close, so some stations that had already shut could not reopen. Supreme Court President Kassio Nunes Marques, appointed by the elder Bolsonaro, confirmed Lula's victory and said the extension caused no problems for the count.

Why it matters

Lula is now the first president since Brazil returned to civilian rule in 1985 to win after losing a first round, and the first in Brazilian history to win a fourth term. He turns 81 on Tuesday. He served two terms from January 2003 to December 2010 and returned to office in January 2023. His new term starts on 5 January and runs until 2030.

The win also breaks the recent pattern across Latin America, where voters in Argentina, Chile and Colombia have backed right-wing candidates. World leaders were quick to congratulate him. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said "democracy and multilateralism" had won. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called it a "great victory".

But the win does not hand Lula an easy government. The BBC describes a hostile Congress and a divided country ahead. Bolsonaro's refusal to concede, even if legal experts doubt it will go anywhere, keeps the dispute alive in public. Governing will mean dealing with an opposition that disputes the result and a legislature that is not on his side.

What it means for the US

Washington is part of this story, not a bystander. Trump backed the Bolsonaro family: Flávio Bolsonaro met Trump at the White House earlier this year to seek his support, and Trump has previously shown support for his father Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted over a coup attempt following his 2022 loss to Lula. Lula answered that directly in his victory speech. Referring to what Trump has called the "Donroe Doctrine", a push for US dominance in the Western Hemisphere, Lula said Brazil "will not accept being anyone's backyard". Trump had not reacted to the result when the BBC published its report.

That sets up a tense stretch for US-Brazil relations. Trade, regional security and US influence in Latin America all run through Brasília, and a Brazilian president who just won by campaigning against US dominance will test how far Washington pushes its hemisphere agenda. The result also lands in the middle of America's own election season, with the [US midterm elections](/article/us-midterm-elections-2026-explained) set for November 3 and former President Barack Obama [campaigning for Democrats](/article/obama-campaigns-democrats-midterms-trump) in the run-up to that vote.

What happens next

Bolsonaro's annulment bid is the first thing to watch. Experts say it faces long odds, but his next legal move will show whether the dispute fades or drags on. Lula takes office on 5 January, and how he handles a hostile Congress will be the next real test of the new term.