This week, 64,256,232 Brazilians celebrate a first in Brazil’s history.
And I had a front row seat from my apartment in São Paulo.
On October 4, Flávio Bolsonaro led the first round of Brazil’s presidential elections with 47% of the vote over incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s 45%.
Flávio Bolsonaro is a conservative Rio de Janeiro senator who ran for president. He has close ties to Donald Trump and is the son of Jair Bolsonaro.
Jair is a former Brazilian president who held power from 2019 to 2023.
After losing to Lula by 1.8% in the 2022 election, Jair Bolsonaro attempted a coup. When he was unable to receive military backing, he was arrested and is currently serving a 27 year sentence under house arrest.
Trump ally Flávio has said he would free his father if he became president.
Throughout the month following that first round, tensions rose as each candidate’s campaign intensified.
I saw it in my daily life as well. People were talking about the election everywhere. Local events were held for candidates, notably an event at Coffeelab (great coffee) that had a R$13 price tag for all menu items, with 13 symbolizing Lula’s voting number. One of the organic co-ops I regularly visit even had rolls of Lula stickers to hand out at checkout.
Lula brought on more people to help on the social media front, while protests carrying each party’s flags and colors encouraged people to vote and helped spread awareness. There were also moments of tension between protestors and the military police.
As people prepared for a full Sunday of voting, warnings circulated on social media encouraging people to travel in groups to prevent attacks.
October 25, the day citizens across Brazil were to cast their ballots for the next president, was filled with turmoil.
In the South, heavy rains affected several states. While this may not seem like a big issue to some, in São Paulo, heavy rain can significantly impact public transportation and cause underground metro stations to flood.
There were also reports that around 75 buses were barred from departing their garages in Bahia, where Lula has a strong base of support. These circumstances resulted in requests from both parties to extend voting times, which were granted in some areas.
Once the two-hour extension at some locations was up, the count began at 7:00 PM. After an initial slight lead by Trump ally Flávio Bolsonaro, Lula recovered and gradually widened the gap from a few hundred thousand to over 4 million as the count went from 50% to 99% of votes tallied.
While this happened, I was in my São Paulo apartment with my family. We listened to our neighbors excitedly exclaim when Lula caught up to Bolsonaro Junior and joined in their cheers as Lula charged ahead.I wrote these notes right after the votes were finalized at around 10:30 PM, and from outside my window, I could hear cheers from my neighbors and cars honking in the streets.. Lula won the race, 51.79% to 48.21%.
This is the first time in the history of Brazil’s return to democracy that a presidential candidate has been able to come back after losing the first round.This is thanks, in part, to the intense campaigning by Lula and his supporters alike.
In the first round, 117.2 million people voted. During this second round, the pressure was on to make a comeback from that first round. Turnout for the second round was over 128 million people.
Lula is a member of the Worker’s Party and was a factory worker himself. Lula drew much of his support from working-class, Indigenous, Black and mixed-race (pardo in Portuguese) populations. Lula also has strong support in the North and Northeast, regions with significant Indigenous, Black and mixed-race populations.
From what I can see, the win against Flávio is a win against the conservative takeover and a win for the working class. I am so happy to be here during what I know will be a high-energy time! A Brazilian friend of mine is at a samba right now, and I’m sure we’ll see each other soon.
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