Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva waves to supporters on general elections day in São Paulo on Sunday.
Photo:
Rodrigo Paiva/Getty Images
SÃO PAULO—Former president
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
took the most votes in Sunday’s first round of Brazil’s presidential elections, edging ahead of President
Jair Bolsonaro
by pledging to focus on the poverty and unemployment made worse by the pandemic and the ensuing global economic crisis.
Mr. da Silva, a standard-bearer of the Latin American left who is widely popular among the poor despite having been jailed on a corruption conviction in 2018, clinched 47.7% of the vote. The tally was just shy of the majority he needed to win outright, with 95.7% of votes counted Sunday night, according to Brazil’s electoral court.
Brazil’s right wing leader notched 43.8% of the votes—far more than the 36-37% support that polls from Datafolha and Ipec said that the ex-army captain would garner. Allies of Mr. Bolsonaro also swept to victory in elections that saw voters cast ballots for members of congress and state governors.
A supporter in São Paulo on Sunday embraced former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Photo:
Marcelo Chello/Associated Press
Both men emerge from a field of 11 candidates and will likely go head-to-head in a runoff vote on October 30.
Write to Samantha Pearson at samantha.pearson@wsj.com and Luciana Magalhaes at Luciana.Magalhaes@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Appeared in the October 3, 2022, print edition as ‘Brazilians Back Former Leftist President.’