Lula wins fourth nonconsecutive term in Brazil as Flávio Bolsonaro rejects early results and calls for annulment

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a fourth, nonconsecutive term in the country’s presidential election, according to early results released Sunday evening. Lula thanked Brazilian voters after the result, while his challenger, Flávio Bolsonaro, told reporters he would not accept it and said the election should be annulled. Flávio is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro and is widely seen as the heir to Brazil’s right-wing populist movement.

The campaign was heavily shaped by U.S. tariffs, climate change and the Amazon rainforest. Matthew Taylor, a Brazil politics expert at American University, said substantive policy debate was limited, with both candidates focusing primarily on corruption allegations. After the United States imposed additional 25% tariffs on certain Brazilian goods over the summer, Lula accused Flávio of being “Trump’s candidate” and said the U.S. president wanted to colonize Brazil’s resources.

Lula has enacted climate policies aimed at reversing environmental deregulation under the previous administration. Amazon deforestation has fallen 71% since 2022, reaching its lowest annual level on record, although Lula’s record is complicated by his support for expanded oil development.

Flávio Bolsonaro denied climate change and pledged to continue his father’s political legacy. Lula previously defeated Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup to overturn the 2022 election and remains under house arrest because of health problems.