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Bolsonaro's party accepts Lula's election victory after initial rejection

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro initially refused to accept defeat in Brazil's presidential election, but his party recognized Lula's victory less than 24 hours later.

27 October 2026Tagblick Newsdesk

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Archive photo: Bolsonaro's party accepts Lula's election victory after initial rejection — Archive photoPhoto: Rob Sinclair · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0

In elections held on Sunday, October 25, Lula (PT) was re-elected president with 64.256.232 valid votes, equivalent to 51.8 percent of the total. His rival, Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), received 59.826.041 votes, corresponding to 48.2 percent of valid votes, according to data from the Superior Electoral Court.

Immediately after the results were released, Flávio Bolsonaro stated it was "impossible to accept" the election outcome and branded the Supreme Federal Court's decision to extend voting hours by two hours as "shameful". The senator announced his intention to seek the annulment of the election, citing the extension of voting hours as grounds.

Entities of the Donald Trump administration sought clarification from Flávio Bolsonaro's allies about whether the senator would accept the electoral results, with some members of the U.S. administration suspending the publication of congratulatory messages to the Brazilian population while awaiting a response.

Less than 24 hours after announcing the legal action, Flávio Bolsonaro was persuaded to abandon the request for election annulment. The senator began preparing a separate action against Lula alleging abuse of power. During the same period, a member of Lula's campaign coordination, lawyer Marco Aurélio de Carvalho, described Flávio Bolsonaro's refusal to recognize the result as "theatrics".

On Monday, October 26, the PL formally recognized Lula's victory, one day after its candidate claimed that "shameful" practices had occurred in the election. With this recognition, the party's initial rejection of the outcome came to an end.

Flávio Bolsonaro declared that he would lead the opposition against Lula's new government. This development ended a period of less than 24 hours during which the senator had publicly refused to acknowledge the election results.

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