On Saturday, Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro each drew crowds to separate campaign-closing events, with both candidates urging supporters to deliver a decisive outcome at the polls the following day. Atop a campaign vehicle moving through São Paulo, the 80-year-old Lula addressed gatherings of red-clad supporters, telling them he anticipated winning the presidency outright in the first round while vowing to push past opposition from the right.
Flavio Bolsonaro — a senator, now 45 years old, whose father, Jair Bolsonaro, was sentenced to 27 years in prison after a court found him guilty on charges tied to an effort to reverse the result of the 2022 election, and who had maintained close ties with Donald Trump during his presidency — stands as one of Lula's main rivals in the upcoming contest. Polling data puts both contenders outside winning range for the Sunday first-round vote, with the pair separated by margins too narrow to call ahead of an October 25 runoff.
Hundreds of motorcycles rolled through the São Paulo interior with Flavio Bolsonaro at the front, an event that drew comparisons to rallies his father has held. Riding atop a campaign truck, he urged supporters not to split their votes across two rounds. In a video posted ahead of the gathering, he urged supporters to act on everything at once that Sunday.
Should Flavio Bolsonaro take the presidency, Brazil would add its name to a list of Latin American countries whose electorates have shifted toward right-leaning governments over the past year. No endorsement of the senator has come from Trump, who nonetheless noted that the race is one he is keeping a close eye on. Lula stated that any attempt to interfere with Brazil's approaching election would face no acceptance from his administration.
Supporters arrived in caps and T-shirts bearing slogans such as "Make Lula President Again" and "Brazil belongs to Brazilians." Adriana Lima, a 44-year-old early childhood educator who attended dressed entirely in red, told a broadcaster that Lula was the only leader who had shown concern for ordinary people, and added that she viewed outside interference in Brazilian affairs — including what she described as attempts by the United States to treat the country as subordinate — as something that needed to be resisted.
Tiago Lorureto, a 35-year-old accountant who backs Lula, framed the contest as a choice between democratic rule and what he personally termed barbarism. The younger Bolsonaro has anchored his campaign on tightened security policies and budgetary restraint, portraying Lula as unfit for office and pointing to the strain on household finances.
Marcelo Peressim, a 50-year-old packaging company owner who attended Flavio Bolsonaro's rally carrying a portrait of the candidate's father, told reporters that despite working around the clock, he and his family rarely have anything left over once their expenses are covered. Eliane Boscolo, a 47-year-old homemaker, expressed the view that outside attention to Brazil's elections would be unnecessary if domestic conditions were in a healthier state, adding that she hopes to see circumstances at home improve. She indicated that, were his participation to become necessary, she would raise no objection.
Opinion in the electorate remains divided as the contest enters its closing weeks, with questions around conduct and dispute drawing focus from the policy positions both contenders have laid out. During the election period, Flavio Bolsonaro faced a corruption probe tied to the funding of a biographical film about his father. Funding for the project came from Daniel Vorcaro, a banker currently held in custody whose financial dealings are the subject of an active inquiry tied to one of the broader corruption cases to have drawn in numerous figures across the country's power structures.
Across both sides of the contest, digital teams monitored stumbles, accusations, and unverified assertions, packaging that material into produced video content or AI-generated visuals for release through social media channels. The 2022 contest between Lula and Bolsonaro ended with a gap of 1.8 percentage points separating the two candidates. Ballots cast across Brazil's roughly 160 million registered voters will determine not only the presidency but also seats in the legislature, governorships, and a portion of the senate.
