Lula, Bolsonaro head to Oct. 27 presidential runoff

Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, an ally of US President Donald Trump, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are to face off in a runoff on Oct. 25 for the top job of Latin America’s powerhouse economy after neither won a majority in Sunday’s vote.

The country’s electoral court in Brasilia said neither the 80-year-old incumbent, seeking his fourth non-consecutive term, nor the 45-year-old son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro would garner the majority vote needed for an outright win.

The court had Bolsonaro with just over 56 million votes to Lula’s 53.7 million, with 99.8 percent of the vote reported.

A girl plays with political flyers at Cidade de Deus favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on the day of the presidential election, on Sunday.

Photo: AFP

The next presidential term is set to begin on Jan. 5.

The winner will be in charge of Latin America’s biggest economy and a population of 214 million. A win for Bolsonaro would increase US influence in Latin America. If Lula wins, Brazil would keep its distance from Washington and continue to deepen its relationship with China.

Flavio Bolsonaro addressed the press and a small group of supporters, including some wearing green-and-yellow Brazil jerseys and one woman wrapped in the Israeli flag, outside his Brasilia house.

“Brazil wants change, that’s the reading of what happened today,” Bolsonaro said.

“It’s the end of the Workers’ Party era,” he added, in a reference to Lula’s party.

Lula, seeking to be encouraging ahead of an uphill battle to beat Bolsonaro in the runoff, said the result was “unexpected” as he had thought he could win in the first round.

“Tomorrow we start a new campaign,” Lula said. “I am very good in the knockout stage. We will see who has the best plan.”

Lula and Bolsonaro have three weeks to reach moderate voters who did not support them in the first round. Augusto Cury, a writer who finished in third place with 3.4 million votes, said he would not endorse either in the runoff. Ronaldo Caiado and Renan Santos, two candidates who garnered about 5.3 million votes combined on Sunday, have previously said the same.

In the campaign ahead, Lula is expected to try to capitalize on the popularity of his social policies and his rival’s many legal woes.

While the once widely popular Lula saw his approval ratings plummet during his third term, standing up to the US gave him a boost. He also enjoys a strong base of supporters who credit his social policies for improving millions of Brazilians’ lives.

However, he faces a tough battle because of an affordability crisis and a corruption scandal that ensnared the same justice who led the investigation into his rival.

Flavio Bolsonaro is likely to lean into his messaging on affordability and link the president to corruption scandals.

He has promised to crack down on Brazilian criminal groups and insisted that Brazil needs to strike better deals with the Trump administration, including in the rare minerals economy, second only to China. He also has campaigned on releasing his father and bringing him back to politics.

Both candidates face image problems: Roughly half of Brazil’s population disapproves of the Bolsonaro family, and roughly half disapprove of Lula’s Workers’ Party, according to multiple polls.