In an election campaign that may be recorded in history for countering far-right tactics, defying foreign interference and social media manipulation, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured a historic fourth presidential term, defeating Flávio Bolsonaro of Liberal Party (PL) in Brazil’s runoff elections on Sunday (October 25, 2026). Mr. Lula secured 64 million votes, the highest total ever recorded in a Brazilian presidential election, surpassing his own record of 60 million votes he received in 2022. Declaring a “defeat for lies and denialism”, he pledged to govern for all Brazilians and protect the country’s sovereignty. “Brazil is nobody’s backyard,” Mr. Lula declared at a midnight rally, sending a clear message to U.S. president Donald Trump as he addressed hundreds of thousands of supporters gathered along São Paulo’s iconic Avenida Paulista.
In an emotional speech, Mr. Lula thanked women and older voters for their support and praised the mobilisation of young people on the streets and on social media. “People went out to vote because we managed to convince them that their votes were extremely important to safeguarding democracy in the country,” he said. He also said he had learned many lessons from the election and promised to change his approach to governing, ensure greater public participation in government decisions and give digital communication a more prominent role during his fourth term. “The future begins today, and its name is youth. I salute the women who made all the difference. I salute the older people who made sacrifices and made their way to the polling stations to vote,” he said.
Mr. Lula secured an unprecedented comeback in the election. He trailed in the first round, receiving 45.16% of valid votes against 47.03% for Mr. Flávio. As the prospect of a Bolsonaro presidency caused a major concern among the young, especially about public education, healthcare and transport, millions of people joined weekly rallies across the country, pledging support for Mr. Lula and demanding protection of public services. On Sunday (October 25, 2026), Mr. Lula told his young supporters that their voices have been heard. “We will make increasing investment in in the Unified Health System, develop a national artificial intelligence system, continue to expand public universities and support the digital and creative economies,” Mr. Lula told his supporters with massive rounds of applause.
The turnaround after the first round of election on October 4 was not only historic but also dramatic. Mr. Lula’s official campaign team almost took a back seat as millions of people came out on streets and joined the social media campaign. The online mobilisation was led by federal deputy André Janones, who is not a member of the Workers Party but created a WhatsApp channel called “Lula’s Army”, where he issued “missions” to more than 10 million subscribers every day. The campaign focused its efforts on persuading undecided voters and those who had abstained in the first round. Mr. Lula’s young supporters, many of them teenagers, went on door-to-door campaigns to win over voters who had backed other candidates in the first round. On Sunday (October 25, 2026), abstention rates fell to their lowest levels since 2002.
With most opinion polls predicting a neck-to-neck race and some even giving an edge to Mr. Flavio till a few days back, the Workers’ Party shifted its messaging from a comparison of the candidates’ personal records to a forward-looking agenda centred on concrete promises. Following the first-round results, Mr. Lula changed his campaign team’s leadership and began announcing measures such as an increase in direct cash transfer benefits, a new debt-relief programme, a package of benefits for small entrepreneurs and a pledge to make public transport free on weekends.
Even as Mr. Lula made these promises to the electorate, his campaign faced a big challenge: Big Tech firms – from Meta to X and Google – openly supported Mr. Flavio’s campaign while suppressing advertising by Mr. Lula’s team. In his speech on Sunday (October 25, 2026), Mr. Lula said he had to overcome “interference” by digital platforms and pledged to regulate big tech companies in Brazil. “This election was one in which we had to overcome interference coming from outside and through digital platforms. We will have to regulate them,” Mr. Lula said. On October 16 after an expose in the Brazilian media, Meta had admitted that its artificial intelligence tool had blocked the generation of campaign material supporting Mr. Lula while allowing the same technology to be used by the Flávio campaign.
With this historic mobilisation of people and a record victory, Mr. Lula also seems to have defeated Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly made clear that his preferred candidate in the race was Mr. Flávio. Now, Mr. Lula’s victory has applied brakes on the growing wave of right-wing leaders in the region. But Mr. Trump is not in a mood to throw in the towel. On Sunday (October 25, 2026) night, Mr. Trump questioned Mr. Lula’s victory, comparing it to the 2020 U.S. election which he lost to Joe Biden and alleged that Brazil had followed the “Joe Biden playbook.”
“Bolsonaro had a big lead in the first round and was the clear favourite to win the second. But the communists never give up power once they get it,” Mr. Trump said, echoing the far-right’s strategy of questioning election results which do not go in their favour.
Mr. Flávio was singing the same tune on Sunday (October 25, 2026) night as he refused to accept the election result, announcing that he would seek the annulment of the election. He accused the Federal Supreme Federal of “changing the rules midway” after a judge ordered voting across the country to be extended until 7 p.m. when Mr. Lula complained about many right-wing mayors curtailing the bus services in the poor areas many cities. “It is impossible to recognise the election result in the context in which these things happened,” Mr. Flavio said, adding that his legal team would challenge the outcome.
It is a complete misreading of the mood in Brazil. After Mr. Lula finished his speech on Sunday (October 25, 2026) night, the crowd broke into a rendition of Brazil’s national independence song, sending a message to the far-right, Mr. Trump and Meta.
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