Brazil election: Lula da Silva wins presidency as nation swings left — will Bolsonaro accept the results?
Brazil election: Lula da Silva wins presidency as nation swings left — will Bolsonaro accept the results?
Brazil’s election result continues a long left-leaning trend in recent South American presidential elections
Outgoing Brazilian President Bolsonaro during his final campaign rally on Friday. Bolsonaro lost in Sunday’s presidential runoff election to Luis Inacio Lula da Silva in a close race.
BRASILIA,Brazil – Brazil’s left-wing former president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula, narrowly won a tightly contested presidential election tonight with a margin of just under 2%.
With 50% of precincts reporting, Bolsonaro clung to a narrow 0.5% lead, but the general trend over the course of the evening was a slow and steady upswing for Lula, as votes trickled in from the northeast. Just before 7pm, with 72% of precincts reporting, Lula took his first lead of the night, and continued to expand his lead.
It was also going to be difficult for Bolsonaro in the second round, as Lula won the first round by 5 points, 48% to 43%, nearly winning outright on October 2. Bolsonaro also faced an uhpill battle in the sense that both third place Simone Tebet and fourth place Ciro Gomes backed Lula in the second round.
Bolsonaro turned in a strong showing in the wealthier south of the country, winning Sao Paulo and his native Rio de Janeiro by margins of over 10%, but it was not enough to compensate for Lula’s massive turnout in the Northeast of Brazil, where the Workers Party has long enjoyed dominance. Indeed, Lula won numerous states by margins of 30%, 40% or even 50%, turning in par
