Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received 64,256,232 votes, 51.79% of the valid ballots, the highest tally of his electoral career. The incumbent defeated Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL), who obtained 59,826,041 votes, 48.21%, in the runoff of the presidential elections this Sunday.
Lula thus surpassed the mark he had set in the 2022 runoff, when he received 60,345,999 votes, equivalent to 50.90% of the valid ballots. In that election, then-President Jair Bolsonaro, Flávio's father, obtained 58,206,354 votes, 49.10%.
Sunday's victory also set a precedent in Brazilian electoral history. For the first time since the return of direct presidential elections, a candidate who had finished second in the first round managed to prevail in the runoff.
In the first round of the 2026 elections, Flávio Bolsonaro had obtained 47.03% of the votes, compared with Lula's 45.16%. However, the result of the second round allowed the president to overtake his adversary and secure a new term at the head of the Planalto Palace.
The leader of the Workers' Party (PT) also became the first president of Brazil to be elected four times to the office. Since presidential reelection was enabled in the country in 1997, Lula is also the leader who has been elected president the most times.
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Lula surpassed 64 million votes and broke the historic record for electoral support in Brazil (EP)The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, obtained 64,256,232 votes, 51.79% of valid ballots, the highest figure of his electoral career. The incumbent defeated Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, of the Liberal Party (PL), who received 59,826,041 votes, 48.21%, in the runoff of the presidential elections held this Sunday. Lula thereby surpassed the mark he had set in the 2022 runoff, when he won 60,345,999 votes, equivalent to 50.90% of valid ballots. In that election, the then president Jair Bolsonaro, Flávio's father, obtained 58,206,354 votes, 49.10%. Sunday's victory also set a precedent in Brazilian electoral history. For the first time since the return of direct presidential elections, a candidate who had finished second in the first round managed to win the runoff. In the first round of the 2026 elections, Flávio Bolsonaro had obtained 47.03% of the votes, compared with Lula's 45.16%. However, the second-round result allowed the president to overtake his adversary and secure a new term at the head of the Planalto Palace. The leader of the Workers' Party (PT) also became the first president of Brazil to be elected to the office four times. Since presidential reelection was enabled in the country in 1997, Lula is also the leader who has been elected president the most times. For the first time since the return of direct presidential elections, a candidate who had finished second in the first round managed to win the runoff (REUTERS)The result came in a context of growth in the Brazilian electorate. Between 2022 and 2026, the number of voters rose from 156 million to 158 million. Political scientist Jairo Nicolau, a professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, described the continuity of the electoral contest compared with previous elections. "These elections have become a kind of third round of the 2022 contest," he said. Nicolau and other academics considered that voter mobilization and the debate on public policies marked the final stage of the campaign. Mayra Goulart, a political scientist and coordinator of the Laboratory of Parties, Elections and Comparative Politics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), highlighted both the attacks between the candidates and the discussion of proposals during the runoff. "The runoff was marked by a lot of negative campaigning, but also by the start of debates on Bolsa Família, the end of betting and the 6x1 schedule, for example," she said. Strategist and political marketing expert Emerson Saraiva highlighted the role of figures such as federal deputy André Janones, of Rede-MG, and influencer Pablo Marçal in campaign communication during the runoff. "The candidates finally understood that communication with voters must use direct language," he said. The Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, candidate for reelection with the Workers' Party (PT), holds the phone of his wife, Rosangela "Janja" da Silva, at a campaign rally ahead of the runoff of the presidential elections (REUTERS)The experts also pointed to the prominence of the judiciary as one of the particularities of the 2026 elections. Murilo Medeiros, a political scientist at the University of Brasilia (UnB), referred to the visibility achieved by the leading figures of the judicial system during the campaign. "The judiciary had unprecedented public visibility. Often, more was said about the leading figures of the judicial system than about the candidates," he said. The researchers also warned about the political consequences of the result. According to their assessments, the high number of votes Flávio Bolsonaro obtained anticipates a scenario of high polarization for the new term. That context could reduce the margin of error for the president-elect. The defeated sector, for its part, will retain a broad electoral base due to the number of ballots the PL senator obtained. The experts also stressed the importance of keeping that social base mobilized.