Who won the first round of Brazil’s 2026 presidential election?

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) finished first. With 99.7% of ballot boxes counted on Sunday night, October 4, 2026, Flávio Bolsonaro had 47.09% of valid votes and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) had 45.08%, a gap of about two percentage points. That is the smallest first-round margin between the top two presidential candidates since Brazil returned to democracy, below the 5.23-point gap of 2022.

Because neither candidate won more than half of the valid votes, the two will meet in a runoff on October 25, 2026.

Source: Folha de S.Paulo — Diferença entre Flávio e Lula é a menor da história no 1º turno em eleição presidencial.

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