Brazil's two presidential candidates will face off again in a runoff vote, following a virtual tie in yesterday's election..With 99.5% of the votes counted, President Jair Bolsonaro had 43.3% support to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva 48.3%. Neither candidate received enough votes to become the president..Brazil's election is set to determine whether the country of 216 million remains led by right-wing Bolsonaro, or once again shifts leftward with da Silva. The runoff election is set to be held on October 30..Pre-election polls gave da Silva a wide lead. The last Datafolha survey, which interviewed 12,800 people, found da Silva led Bolsonaro by 14 percentage points..But Bolsonaro outperformed expectations in Brazil's southeast region that includes the populous cities of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro.."Against everything and everyone, we had a more expressive vote in the 1st round of 2022 than the one we had in 2018," Bolsonaro said on Twitter on Monday.."There were almost 2 million more votes! We also elected the largest benches in the House and Senate, which was our top priority at this first moment.".Bolsonaro added he's "never lost an election," and has no plans to do so "when the freedom of all of Brazil depends on us."."Our opponents only prepared for a 100 meters race. We are ready for a marathon," he added..Former US President Donald Trump has come out in support of Bolsonaro, who he calls "Tropical Trump." ."President Bolsonaro is in a very strong position to win BIG. More importantly, he will be victorious because the wonderful people of Brazil appreciate the great job he has done, and is doing,” Trump wrote on Truth Social..Bolsonaro, a retired military officer, has been leader of the Brazil since 2018. During his time in office, Bolsonaro courted controversy by reducing protections for the country's rainforests, being slow to implement COVID-19 restrictions, and for his harsh views on Brazil's criminals..But Bolsonaro built an energetic base by defending conservative values, attacking political correctness, and orienting himself as a patriot working to save his nation from leftist policies that infringe on personal liberties and hurt the economy..da Silva rose from poverty to become president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010. During his presidency, he built an extensive social welfare program that lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty. But he also served 19 months in prison for his involvement in corruption and money laundering, which prevented him from running in the 2018 presidential race..During the 2022 election campaign, Bolsonaro repeatedly questioned the reliability of opinion polls and Brazil's electronic voting machines. He claimed on September 18 that if he didn't win in the first round, something must be "abnormal.".Some have feared, given's Bolsonaro's connections to the military, he may use the country's armed forces to overturn the election results..Bolsonaro did not challenge Sunday night’s results, although he said he was waiting for more information from the Defence Ministry.
