Brazil Presidential Vote Pits Trump Ally Against Lula, Who Is Seeking 4th Nonconsecutive Term

Brazilians headed to the polls on Sunday in a major presidential election. The two main candidates are President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. These two politicians have very different ideas about how Brazil should be run, and either one could win outright. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers will compete again in a runoff election on October 25.

Flávio Bolsonaro is 45 years old and the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. He is known for his close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump. Lula, on the other hand, is 80 years old and one of the oldest leaders in the world. He is running in his seventh presidential election and has worked to build stronger ties with China.

Bolsonaro has made his friendship with Trump a big part of his campaign. He says Brazil needs to make better trade deals with the United States, especially when it comes to rare minerals found in the ground. Brazil believes it has up to 21 million tons of these valuable minerals, which are used in many important industries. Only China has more of these minerals than Brazil.

Lula has been critical of the United States during his campaign. He has pointed to several actions by the Trump administration that he says show the U.S. is trying to interfere in Brazilian politics. These include high taxes placed on Brazilian goods, the cancellation of the Brazilian ambassador's visa, and punishment of a Supreme Court judge who led an investigation into Jair Bolsonaro.

One of Bolsonaro's key campaign promises is to free his father from prison. Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup, which means he tried to illegally take power. Flávio Bolsonaro wants to bring his father back into politics. He has denied that the U.S. government is helping his campaign in any way.

Sunday's vote is about much more than just the presidency. Brazilians are also choosing 27 state governors, all 513 federal members of congress, and 54 of the country's 81 senators. Members of state legislatures are being elected as well. It is one of the largest voting days in Brazilian history.

Political experts say this race could be decided by last-minute mistakes. Thomas Traumann, a political consultant from Rio de Janeiro, says the two sides spend more time attacking each other than sharing ideas. "It is much more a competition of accusations than a competition of proposals," he said. With so many undecided voters, even a small error could swing the election.

Four years ago, Lula beat Jair Bolsonaro by about 2.1 million votes, which was a very slim margin of less than 2 percentage points. At that time, many Brazilians were unhappy with how Jair Bolsonaro handled the COVID-19 pandemic and his repeated threats against democracy. The economy was also struggling, with prices rising fast. This time, though, Lula is the one facing tough questions.

Lula is now dealing with an affordability crisis, meaning many Brazilians are struggling to pay for everyday needs. A corruption scandal has also hurt his standing with voters. Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo, says some voters have simply grown tired of Lula, who is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term as president. "Many in the Lula campaign were not expecting such a difficult election a few weeks ago," Melo said.

Bolsonaro has faced his own problems, too. He has been accused of corruption multiple times, including an accusation that a banker paid him millions of dollars to make a movie about his father's life. He has also drawn criticism from Roman Catholic voters who worry he will give too much power to his evangelical supporters. With both candidates facing serious questions, many Brazilians are still making up their minds.