Flavio Bolsonaro surged to a surprise lead over Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election, making him the overwhelming favorite to win the runoff and take Latin America’s heavyweight nation sharply to the right.
With conservative allies dominating across Brazil in Sunday’s voting, Bolsonaro capped the day by taking about 47% of the vote to the leftist Lula’s roughly 45% with counting nearly complete.
They will face off on Oct. 25, but closing the gap is likely to prove difficult for the veteran president running what is likely his last race, given that most support for eliminated candidates is expected to fall behind Bolsonaro.
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