President Lula won a fourth, nonconsecutive term over Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of the former president he defeated in 2022, according to early results released Sunday evening, Axios reported. The margin was slim. Crime and graft sat at the center of the younger Bolsonaro's pitch, and he offered voters an extension of the movement his father built. Lula, for his part, framed the race around national sovereignty.
The loser did not go quietly. Flávio Bolsonaro told reporters he would not accept the outcome and said the results should be annulled, as per reports from numerous news outlets. Brazil's Superior Electoral Court runs the national vote and is responsible for certifying its results.
Financial markets had positioned for the opposite outcome. Brazilian assets rallied after Bolsonaro's first-round lead, and the iShares MSCI Brazil exchange-traded fund fell sharply in overnight trading once Lula's win became clear, CNBC reported. Lula now faces a term in which public debt and interest costs are central concerns for both the government and bondholders.