Brazil's presidential race goes to a second round on October 25 after Flavio Bolsonaro beat President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva but missed an outright majority.
By the numbers: Bolsonaro, 45, took 47% of valid votes to Lula's 45.1% with 99.9% counted, or 56.1 million votes to 53.8 million. A candidate has to clear 50% to win in the first round.
- "Lula has fought seven presidential elections. He's worried about power. I am worried about the future of Brazil," Bolsonaro told supporters in the capital, Brasilia.
The backstory: Bolsonaro is the son of Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election to Lula. Flavio hopes winning the presidency will let him free his father.
- Lula, 80, is seeking a historic fourth non-consecutive term after winning in 2002, 2006 and 2022.
Zoom in: Brazil's right ran up legislative wins too: 34 of the 54 senators elected came from the right or far right, and Jair Bolsonaro's son Carlos and wife Michelle both won senate seats.
- Tarcisio de Freitas, Jair Bolsonaro's former infrastructure minister, was reelected governor of Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populous and economically important state.
What they're saying: "We have just had a lesson in Brazilian democracy. The result is often unexpected," Lula said in Sao Paulo, adding that he had been convinced he would win in the first round.
What's next: The runoff is October 25. Bolsonaro enters as the favorite and stands to gain votes from rightwing candidates Renan Santos, who won 2.2%, and Ronaldo Caiado, who secured 2.1%.
Why it matters: Nearly 159 million voters are deciding whether Latin America's largest democracy returns to Bolsonaro rule four years after a failed attempt to overturn an election, and Lula's allies warn that Washington may dispute a Lula win.
