Brazil reaches the election with its top court under suspicion and the candidates tied

Brazil will hold presidential elections on October 4, 2026, between coalition of two main contenders: the centrist Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva and the right-wing Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. The election will decide the next president and vice president, who will serve until December 2030. Polls predict a close race, with Lula leading at around 36-40% and Bolsonaro trailing with 30-37%.

If neither reaches 50% of the vote, a runoff election will be held on October 25. Lula, 80 years old, has governed Brazil since January 2023, serving his third term after initially taking office in 2003. The Workers' Party is his political affiliation, and he also served between 2003 and 2010.

Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, is a senator representing the conservative Liberal Party, the same party under which his father ruled from 2018 to 2022. Jair Bolsonaro, the father, is currently incarcerated for his role in a 2022 plot to overturn the election results and assassinate Lula.

The election will determine the country's direction: Lula's policies emphasize public investment, social programs, active diplomacy in the Global South, and multilateral forums. In contrast, Bolsonaro's platform proposes eliminating ten ministries, resuming privatization, lowering taxes on energy and fuel, stricter measures against organized crime, and expanding oil and gas exploration.