Lula’s Presidential Win In Brazil Breaks Records

The Workers’ Party candidate added over 10 million votes in the three weeks between the two rounds of voting, while his rival gained just 3.6 million.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made history Sunday, setting a record for Brazil and the rest of Latin America.

Lula became the first president to win a fourth term and did so just days before turning 81. The Brazilian president’s comeback against his right-wing rival, Flávio Bolsonaro, also set another record.

Since Brazil’s return to democracy in 1985, no president has managed to overturn a first-round defeat. The Workers’ Party candidate added over 10 million votes in the three weeks between the two rounds of voting, while his rival gained just 3.6 million.

The margin was decisive enough for Lula to secure a larger lead than he did in 2022. Lula’s win in Brazil limits President Trump’s drive to tighten his grip on the Western Hemisphere and cements Latin America’s most populous country and largest economy as a counterweight to Washington. Meaning Trump has been denied a powerful ally.