International Edition · Mon 26 Oct 2026
Politics (Lead story) · via Financial Times
Lula's Fourth Term: A Four-Million-Vote Margin and a Rival Who Will Not Concede
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil's runoff with about 51.8% of valid votes. Flávio Bolsonaro is seeking to annul the result, a bid electoral judges are reported to see as unlikely to succeed.
Chanan Zevin - Chief Editor and Head of Desks
Published
The result
Brazil's president, 80, won a fourth term on Sunday, beating hard-right challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, the Financial Times reported. The Chamber of Deputies' news agency put Lula on 51.79% of valid votes against 48.21%, a gap of about 4.4 million votes.
The challenge
Bolsonaro refused to concede and said he would ask for the runoff to be annulled, objecting to a last-minute two-hour extension of voting. The head of the electoral court, Kassio Nunes Marques, said the extension changed nothing in the outcome, and G1 reported that court judges see the annulment request as unlikely to prosper.
Why it matters
Investors had positioned for a Bolsonaro win on the view that he would tighten Brazil's public finances. That bet is now being unwound at speed (see Financial Markets). Lula enters his new term with a narrow mandate, a contested result and a market that has already voted against his fiscal record.
What to watch
The court's ruling on the annulment request, the first signals on the 2027 budget, and whether Lula names a finance team that can calm bond investors.
Sources
- Financial Times, 'Lula is re-elected Brazil's president in knife-edge election', 26 October 2026 · ft.com
- Agência Câmara de Notícias (Brazilian Chamber of Deputies), 'Lula é reeleito presidente com quase 52% dos votos válidos no 2º turno', 25 October 2026 · camara.leg.br
- G1, 'Ministros do TSE avaliam que pedido de Flávio para anular segundo turno não deve prosperar', 26 October 2026 · g1.globo.com