Lula Wins Brazilian Runoff, Extending Distance From Trump

Brazil's electoral court confirmed President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's re-election on Sunday, delivering 51.8% of the vote with all ballots counted. The incumbent holds a lead of nearly 4.4 million votes over challenger Flávio Bolsonaro. The result hands Lula a fourth, non-consecutive term that begins Jan. 5, 2027.

The outcome gives the region's largest economy, with a gross domestic product of $2.6 trillion US per year, a president who has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump. Mexico and Brazil, Latin America's two most populous nations, are now both led by left-of-centre politicians. This runs against a recent pattern in the region, where right-of-centre candidates aligned with Trump have been winning office and expanding Washington's influence.

Lula, who turns 81 on Tuesday, addressed supporters after the court's announcement. "This was a defeat for denialism and lies. I must confess that every time I attended a debate, I felt embarrassed," he said. He also said, "This country will not accept being anyone's backyard."

The count followed a tense evening. Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ruled three minutes before the scheduled closing time to keep polling stations open for two more hours, a decision that delayed the tally. Lula's campaign requested the extension after problems with buses transporting voters in São Paulo and Salvador. Bolsonaro's camp asked for the same extension because of heavy rain in southern Brazil, where he draws support.

At a Rio de Janeiro polling place, voting machines had been shut down minutes after the scheduled close and could not be restarted. In Brasília, volunteers who oversaw counting at a school left 15 to 20 minutes after polls closed. Bolsonaro ally Nikolas Ferreira noted that Zanin, who issued the extension order, previously served as Lula's lawyer. Bolsonaro said after the results were read that he wants the election "anulled" because of the two-hour extension.

Lula trailed in the first round earlier this month, when Bolsonaro finished ahead by more than 2.2 million votes. The reversal marks the first time since the military dictatorship ended in 1985 that a candidate who finished second in the first round went on to win the presidency. Cost of living and public security dominated the campaign; Bolsonaro pledged to lower food prices, while Lula backed spending on incentives for undecided voters.

Both candidates have faced corruption suspicions involving family members and allies. Lula previously served more than a year in prison on convictions that were later annulled. He was released after 580 days after the Supreme Court voided the sentence, finding the trial judge had been biased. He joins U.S. President Donald Trump and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, all aged 80, as the oldest presidents in the Americas.