President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won a fourth term on Sunday, defeating Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in a runoff that split Brazil almost evenly and closed a campaign marked by personal attacks, claims of foreign interference and competing visions for the Amazon.
With 99.9% of ballots counted, the electoral court put Lula on 51.7% and Bolsonaro on 48.2%. The margin was wider than several final polls had suggested, but narrow enough that the Bolsonaro campaign spent the night questioning the count.
Voting ran two hours long
The Supreme Court extended voting by two hours on Sunday evening after both campaigns asked for more time, for different reasons. Polling stations stayed open past the scheduled close in several states, and results arrived later than planned. Counting began only after the court's ruling took effect.
Two very different candidates
Flavio Bolsonaro, a senator and the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, ran on a promise to pardon his father, who is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after the 2022 election. Lula, 80, campaigned on defending democratic institutions, pushing back against US tariffs and narrowing income gaps.
The race drew attention abroad for three reasons: the strength of the Latin American right, the future of the rainforest, and the durability of Brazil's four-decade-old democracy.
What comes next
Bolsonaro has refused to recognise the result and asked for the vote to be annulled. Election lawyers say the request has little prospect, because the losing campaign has offered no evidence of fraud and the electoral court has already certified the count.
Lula takes office in January for a term running to 2030. He will govern with a fragmented Congress and a public still divided almost in half, which limits what he can pass without bargaining.
Two files will be watched closely. On trade, Lula has promised to answer US tariffs with negotiations first and retaliation only if talks fail. On climate, he has pledged to reach zero illegal deforestation by 2030; the last two years of falling clearing figures give him a base, but enforcement in Para and Mato Grosso remains uneven.