conservative Bolsonaro tops incumbent socialist Lula in Brazil presidential election 1st round | Eastern NC Now

In the latest swing to the right in Latin American politics, conservative Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has topped incumbent socialist President Lula in the first round of the presidential election.  Trump endorsed Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro received 47% of the vote to Lula's 45%, and analysts say Bolsonaro is heavily favored to win the runoff in three weeks, since most of the minor party candidates were from the right or center-right.  Bolsonaro is an ally of the United States, while Lula has been cozying up to  China.  Lula heads the Workers Party, while Bolsonaro leads the Liberal Party.

Bolsonaro is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro who was known as "the Trump of the Tropics".   The elder Bolsonaro was narrowly defeated for reelection in what was widely regarded as a fraudulent election in Brazil's last election.  Huge crowds had demanded that the army step in, but they did not.

Bolsonaro's Liberal Party also made strong gains in both the Brazilian senate and congress, securing the largest block of senators of any party in some years.  It also did well among the governorships that were up for election.

The danger in this election is further political manipulation by politically corrupt Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is currently banned from entering the US. Moraes is a former Social Democrat politician and still wears politics on his sleave as he abuses court power.  When the elder Bolsonaro was elected, Moraes sought a strong opponent and manipulated the release of Lula from prison where he had been serving time for corruption.  Then he began a censorship campaign that saw social media suppressed in Brazil and other actions to suppress free speech.  After the last election, Moraes manipulated bogus criminal charges against the elder Bolsonaro and sent him to prison. Moraes is a dangerous enemy of democracy, who probably should be in prison himself.

https://redstate.com/wardclark/2026/10/05/make-brazil-great-again-bolsonaro-tops-lula-n2207752

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/flavio-bonsonaro-wins-first-round-brazilian-elections-leading/

https://unherd.com/newsroom/brazil-is-set-to-be-next-domino-in-latin-americas-maga-turn/?edition=us

https://www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2026/10/04/bolsonaro-overperforms-reach-round-2-brazil-presidential-election/