Brazil’s 2026 presidential election explained
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Brazil’s 2026 presidential election was decided in an October 25 runoff between incumbent Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the left-wing Workers’ Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores) and Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro of the right-wing Liberal Party (Partido Liberal). In the first round of voting on October 4, Bolsonaro finished first with approximately 47 percent of the vote, followed closely by Lula with 45 percent. Because neither candidate received the majority required to win outright, the two candidates advanced to a second round.
The contest pitted the two candidates from opposing sides of Brazil’s deeply divided political landscape against each other. Lula, age 80, sought an unprecedented fourth term as president, having previously governed from 2003 to 2011 before returning to office in 2023. Bolsonaro, age 45, pursued the presidency for the first time and hoped to win the office once held by his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was barred from seeking office after Brazil’s electoral court found that he had abused his political power and misused the media. (Jair Bolsonaro was later separately convicted of plotting a coup.) Ten other candidates also contested the presidency, representing parties from across Brazil’s political spectrum. But the first-round results narrowed the field to the two leading contenders and set up an unusual political rematch: Four years after defeating Jair Bolsonaro, Lula faced his eldest son. Defying expectations as well as historical precedent (since the restoration of democracy in Brazil in 1985, no candidate had won the presidency after failing to win the first round), Lula emerged as the victor in the runoff, capturing nearly 52 percent of the vote.
How does Brazil’s presidential election work?
Voting in Brazil is compulsory for most citizens ages 18 to 70 and optional for 16- and 17-year-olds, people over age 70, and people who cannot read or write. Voters who do not participate without a valid reason may face fines or restrictions such as losing the ability to acquire a passport. More than 158 million Brazilians were eligible to participate in the 2026 election, which determined not only the presidency but also governorships and seats in the National Congress and state legislatures. To win the presidency in the first round, a candidate must receive more than half of the valid votes cast, excluding blank and null ballots. As no candidate reached that threshold on October 4, the two candidates receiving the most votes advanced to a runoff election that was held on October 25.
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The candidates and election results
Although Lula and Bolsonaro dominated public opinion polls ahead of the election, they were among 12 candidates who contested the presidency in the first round. Lula ran alongside Vice Pres. Geraldo Alckmin, while Bolsonaro selected the federal deputy and former prosecutor Alfredo Gaspar as his running mate. Other candidates included former Goiás governor Ronaldo Caiado of the Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrático) and former Minas Gerais governor Romeu Zema of the New Party (Partido Novo). The field also included Renan Santos, a cofounder of the Free Brazil Movement (Movimento Brasil Livre), and psychiatrist and best-selling self-help author Augusto Cury, who sought elected office for the first time. Rounding out the field were Clariana Barão, Edmilson Costa, Hertz Dias, Rui Costa Pimenta, Samara Martins, and Wilson Grassi.
Bolsonaro and Lula emerged as the two most-voted candidates in the October 4 election, receiving approximately 47 percent and 45 percent of the valid vote, respectively, and advanced to the October 25 runoff. In the second round, Lula captured nearly 52 percent of the vote to just over 48 percent for Bolsonaro. Turnout was strong, with over 124 million votes cast and participation rates topping 80 percent.
The issues that shaped the race
Organized crime was one of the most prominent issues in the 2026 campaign. Powerful criminal organizations operate across Brazil, and the candidates proposed sharply different responses. Lula emphasized intelligence sharing and greater coordination among federal and state security forces. Bolsonaro proposed reducing the age of criminal responsibility to 16 and imposing tougher sentencing rules. Other candidates in the first round put forward their own proposals, including Renan Santos’s call for “super-prisons” and the use of the armed forces against criminal organizations and Romeu Zema’s proposal to classify major criminal factions as terrorist organizations.
The economy produced another set of disagreements, particularly over government spending, employment, and social programs. Lula supported continued public investment, a higher minimum wage, greater protections for app-based workers, and ending the six-day workweek known as the “6×1 schedule.” Bolsonaro proposed cutting government ministries and limiting spending. Other first-round candidates included Zema, who favored lower labor costs and greater flexibility in employment contracts, and Ronaldo Caiado, who placed greater emphasis on technical education and preparing workers for automation and artificial intelligence. Health care was also featured in the campaign, particularly the long waits for treatment through Brazil’s public health system. Proposals ranged from Lula’s emphasis on strengthening primary care and the Mais Médicos program, which brings more doctors to remote areas of Brazil, to greater use of private health providers proposed by Bolsonaro. Other first-round proposals included Zema’s support for greater private-sector participation and Augusto Cury’s emphasis on mental health and telemedicine.
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What’s at stake for Brazil?
The election came at a time when many Brazilians were concerned about both the country’s immediate problems and its deep political divisions. In a September 2026 representative survey, 28 percent of respondents identified violence as Brazil’s most pressing problem, followed by corruption (22 percent), the economy (19 percent), and health care (15 percent). Moreover, Brazil has one of the most fragmented political systems in the world, with numerous parties spanning the ideological spectrum and others that are often closely associated with individual politicians rather than clearly defined positions. To make things more complicated, politicians frequently switch party affiliations during their careers. This fluid political landscape can make party labels and loyalties less straightforward for voters. That complexity exists alongside deep political polarization: In polls conducted ahead of the 2026 election, more than 70 percent of Brazilian respondents described the country as politically polarized, and Lula and Bolsonaro have each faced rejection rates of roughly half of voters.
The October 4 election shaped far more than the presidential contest. Brazilians also elected all 513 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 54 of the 81 members of the Senate, as well as governors and state legislators. The composition of the new Congress will help determine the next president’s ability to advance legislation and address the concerns voters have identified as most pressing. Lula’s victory secured him an unprecedented fourth presidential term, but the narrow margin underscored Brazil’s continuing political divisions. Despite finishing ahead of Lula in the first round, Bolsonaro lost the runoff by approximately 4.4 million votes, receiving 48.21 percent of the valid vote to Lula’s 51.79 percent. Bolsonaro refused to concede, challenging the results and calling for the election to be annulled. The outcome nevertheless marked a historic comeback for Lula, who became the first presidential candidate since Brazil’s return to democracy in 1985 to win a runoff after finishing second in the first round. His next term, beginning in January 2027, will unfold against a backdrop of persistent political polarization and a fragmented Congress. Although Lula retained the presidency, Bolsonarismo remained an influential political force, with four members of the Bolsonaro family winning seats in the federal legislature in the October 4 elections.