Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took 51.79% of Brazil's runoff vote to Flavio Bolsonaro's 48.21%, the first comeback of its kind since democracy returned in the 1980s.
By the numbers: With 100% of votes counted Lula finished on 51.79% to Bolsonaro's 48.21%, a margin of 4.4 million votes. Abstention fell from a record 21.08% in the first round to 19.21%, and Lula's allies had named turnout as his single best opportunity.
- "This election was a defeat for denialism," Lula told supporters in a Sao Paulo conference hall. "I want to thank God and to thank you, Brazilian men and women of this country: it was democracy that made this happen."
The backstory: Lula lost the first round in early October, which plunged his supporters into three weeks of doubt. Born in rural poverty and a union leader by the late 1970s, he lost presidential bids in 1989, 1994 and 1998 before winning in 2002.
The other side: Bolsonaro said it was impossible to concede the result and that his legal team would seek to have the election annulled, citing supreme court justice Cristiano Zanin's decision to extend voting by two hours to 7pm. His own campaign had also asked the electoral court for that extension.
- His father Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after disputing his own 2022 loss to Lula, and had hoped for a role in government had his son prevailed.
Zoom in: Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum wrote "Long live democracy, the people of Brazil won. Congratulations, President Lula!" Paraguay's Santiago Pena saluted the Brazilian people "for this great democratic journey."
Why it matters: Brazil is Latin America's largest economy, and the result interrupts a run of pro-Trump victories in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador. Lula turns 81 on Tuesday and takes office over a country split almost down the middle.
