Flavio Bolsonaro will face Lula in runoff in Brazil's presidential vote

Right-wing Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro will face leftist President Luiz Inacio ‌Lula da Silva in a runoff of the presidential election later this month, after he exceeded expectations in Sunday's first-round vote with a slight lead over the incumbent, Reuters reported.

The election, which centered around the cost of living, corruption and insecurity in Brazilians' daily lives, follows a string of wins across Latin America by right-wing parties aligned with US President Donald Trump.

Bolsonaro's stronger-than-expected performance, at 47% of votes versus Lula's 45%, is expected to buoy his campaign and may bolster Brazil's currency and stock market, ​which have risen on the prospects of the business-friendly challenger. Private surveys in the run-up to the election had forecast Lula leading the first-round vote by around 3 percentage points.

"Brazil wants change ​and I am very happy with the results," Bolsonaro told reporters in Brasilia after nearly all tallies were reported, heralding "the end of the era of (Lula's) Workers' Party."

The ⁠senator, son of right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election, now heads to an October 25 showdown with the leftist Lula.

Addressing a crowd at a ​hotel in Sao Paulo, Lula said he had been convinced he would win the election in the first round.

"Starting tomorrow, we begin a new campaign," he said, promising to show voters what he had accomplished as ​president.

Despite growing worries over Brazil's public finances and sluggish economic growth, the campaign offered meager policy debate, as both leading candidates skipped the major TV debates.