Right-Wing Bolsonaro Leads Lula, 47.3% to 44.9%, in First-Round Vote

[Financial News] Right-wing Liberal Party (PL) candidate Flávio Bolsonaro pulled off a surprise first-place finish in the first round of Brazil's presidential election held on the 4th (local time).
With 98.62% of the votes counted, Bolsonaro secured 47.27% of the vote, defeating Workers' Party (PT) candidate and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who received 44.88%. The result sent Bolsonaro through to the runoff as the leading candidate.
However, Bolsonaro failed to win a majority—more than 50%—and will face Lula again in the runoff scheduled for the 25th. Under Brazilian election law, the top two candidates must compete in a runoff if no candidate wins a majority in the first round.
Bolsonaro took the lead from the early stages of the count, as votes were first tallied in urban areas such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where he had strong support. Bolsonaro drew most of his support from cities, while Lula was backed mainly by rural areas.
Contrary to various opinion polls that predicted Lula would finish first, Bolsonaro's momentum continued through the middle and later stages of the count.
He led Lula not only in the Southeast, a traditional stronghold of the Liberal Party, but also across most areas in the Central-West and Northwest. After gaining the upper hand in most regions except the Northeast, Lula's political base, Bolsonaro at one point widened his lead over Lula to 10 percentage points.
Lula mounted a persistent late surge, reclaiming the Northwest, but he never overtook Bolsonaro and ultimately lost to him.

[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, International Affairs Specialist Reporter