2026 ELECTION
Lula wins the strangest election in decades
President Lula and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin celebrate their re-election on Sunday night. Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/PR
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a fourth term on Sunday, defeating Senator Flávio Bolsonaro 51.8% to 48.2%, a margin of 4.4 million votes. No candidate in Brazilian history had ever trailed after the first round and gone on to win the presidency.
This campaign was Lula's "Last Dance." Like Michael Jordan's final season with the Chicago Bulls in 1998, it was billed as one last run for an aging champion, and like Jordan's, it came down to the wire. In Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, Jordan stole the ball and sank the winning jumper with 5.2 seconds left. Lula needed an ending just as improbable. He lost the first round 47% to 45.2% and trailed in nearly every major poll over the three weeks that followed.
The matchup was unusual from the start…
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