Lula scraps for every vote in a part of Brazil he’s dominated for decades

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (center) during a campaign rally in Sao Paulo on Saturday | BLOOMBERG

Sep 29, 2026

The son of a night watchman and a stay-at-home mother, Douglas Oliveira was 16 and living in a modest house in Brazil’s northeast when he cast his first ballot, helping Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva win a second presidential term.

Two decades later, that same young man who would go fishing to help put food on the family table now enjoys a comfortable life as a software developer, and fervently wants to stop the Brazilian president from securing a record fourth term.

Oliveira’s political turn points to a risk facing the leftist leader as he scraps for every vote heading into the Oct. 4 first round. Lula, as he’s universally known, and his Workers’ Party have long dominated the region home to more than a quarter of Brazilian voters. In 2006, he won a whopping 77% of valid votes in the northeast. The region handed Lula roughly 69% four years ago, proving decisive in a narrow victory that returned him to the presidency.

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