Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and leftist former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will face off in a runoff this month after neither political heavyweight clinched more than 50% of the vote Sunday, preliminarily results show.
Driving the news: Lula, who consistently led in the polls ahead of Sunday’s election, captured 48.3% of the vote, while Bolsonaro got 43.3% with 99.6% of the votes counted.
What they’re saying: Lula at a news conference compared the Oct. 30 runoff vote to “extra time” in a soccer game, per AP.
- “I want to win every election in the first round, but it isn’t always possible,” he said.
The big picture: Lula and Bolsonaro offer starkly different visions for a country just beginning to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated Brazil and its economy.
- Lula, a former two-term president, is looking to cap off a major political comeback after being sidelined during the last presidential election due to corruption convictions. Those convictions have since been thrown out.
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro is looking to hold onto power after facing criticism in some parts of Brazil for his handling of the pandemic, environmental policies and constant questioning of the country’s electoral process.
- He’s claimed without evidence that Brazil’s electronic voting system can be manipulated, and recently claimed if receives less than 60% of the vote Sunday “something abnormal has happened.”
What to watch: It will likely be a tense four weeks of campaigning ahead of the runoff.
- The leadup to Sunday’s vote saw a series of politically motivated attacks and violence.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
