Flávio Bolsonaro has won the first round of Brazil’s presidential election, finishing ahead of incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and sending the race to a runoff on October 25. With 47.03 percent of valid votes to Lula’s 45.16 percent, the 45-year-old senator defied polls that had put the incumbent ahead — and four more members of his family won seats in Congress on the same night, cementing the rise of a Bolsonaro political dynasty.
First-round results: the numbers
Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court reported that Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL) took 56.1 million votes (47.03%) in Sunday’s first round on October 4, while Lula of the Workers’ Party (PT) took 53.9 million (45.16%). A candidate needs more than half of valid votes to win outright, so the two now meet in a one-on-one runoff on Sunday, October 25.
The result surprised pollsters: a mid-September Datafolha survey had Lula at 39 percent and Flávio Bolsonaro at 36 percent, a statistical tie. Lula conceded the outcome caught him off guard, saying he had been certain of a first-round win, while Flávio Bolsonaro declared the vote showed “Brazil wants change.”
The family at a glance
| Family member | Office won | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Flávio Bolsonaro | Presidential runoff | Won the first round with 47.03% (56.1M votes); faces Lula on Oct 25 |
| Michelle Bolsonaro | Senator | Federal District; her first-ever run for public office |
| Carlos Bolsonaro | Senator | Santa Catarina; moves up after 25 years as a Rio councillor |
| Jair Renan Bolsonaro | Federal deputy | Chamber of Deputies; steps up from city councillor |
| Renato Bolsonaro | Federal deputy | Chamber of Deputies for São Paulo; Jair’s brother |
Michelle Bolsonaro’s Senate debut
Former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, 46, won a Senate seat for the Federal District in her first-ever bid for public office. A Liberal Party (PL) member, she campaigned while caring for her husband, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest after being convicted of plotting to overturn the 2022 election.
Carlos Bolsonaro moves to the Senate
Carlos Bolsonaro, 43, the second son, won a Senate seat for Santa Catarina. Long known as the strategist behind his father’s social-media operation, he began his political career at 17 and spent 25 years as a city councillor in Rio de Janeiro before stepping onto the national stage.
Jair Renan and Renato complete the sweep
Jair Renan Bolsonaro, 28, the youngest son, was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, moving up from city councillor. And Jair Bolsonaro’s brother Renato won a Chamber seat for São Paulo — giving the family, alongside Flávio’s runoff berth, elected footholds from the presidency race down through both houses of Congress.
What the runoff will decide
The October 25 runoff is a direct rematch of the 2022 contest’s family lines: Lula narrowly defeated Jair Bolsonaro in 2022, and now faces the former president’s eldest son. Flávio Bolsonaro has pledged to carry on his father’s legacy and has noted that, as president, he would appoint four justices to the Supreme Court — the same court that convicted his father. Analysts say the family’s strengthened bloc in Congress could also reshape any push for legal relief for Jair Bolsonaro, who remains ineligible to run until 2030.
Conclusion
Brazil’s October 4 vote did more than send Flávio Bolsonaro into a runoff with Lula — it installed the Bolsonaro name across the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies in a single night. Whether the October 25 runoff completes the family’s return to the presidency or halts it, the 2026 elections have made the Bolsonaros the defining political dynasty of Brazil’s current era.
For continuing coverage of the Brazilian election and its aftermath, see the same story on Watan News’ English main site and our English world-news coverage.
