Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is set to become the next president of Brazil.
The leftist former President, widely known as “Lula,” has gained 50.83% of the votes, with over 98% of the votes counted in a fiercely contested run-off election on Sunday.
It was a tight race, with incumbent Jair Bolsonaro being denied a second term as he mustered 49.17% votes.
The two candidates had previously gone head to head in a first round of voting on October 2, but neither gained more than half of the votes, forcing Sunday’s runoff vote, which has become a referendum on two starkly different visions for Brazil.
More than 156 million people were eligible to vote in this year’s election. The candidates themselves voted early on Sunday, with Lula voting at a public school in the São Paulo metro Area and Bolsonaro casting his ballot in Rio de Janeiro early on Sunday morning.
