Flávio Bolsonaro Takes 47% to Lead Lula into Brazil Presidential Runoff
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Flávio Bolsonaro, a Brazilian senator, captured roughly 47% of valid votes in the first round of Brazil's presidential election on Sunday, October 4, far exceeding nearly all opinion polls, and will advance to the runoff on October 25 alongside Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, who took 44.9% with nearly all votes counted. The two candidates were the top vote-getters among all 12 contenders, in a campaign atmosphere dominated by anxiety over soaring living costs, corruption cases, and everyday insecurity. Flávio Bolsonaro is the son of Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right former president now serving a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup after his election defeat in 2022. Pre-election polls had projected that President Lula would lead the first round by about 3 percentage points, making Bolsonaro's stronger-than-expected showing a major boost to his campaign and potentially helping to lift the real and Brazilian stocks further on hopes for the challenger's business-friendly policies.