In the first round of Brazil’s elections on Oct. 4, 2026, Flávio Bolsonaro, of the right wing Liberal Party (PL), came in first with 47.03% of the valid votes, compared to 45.16% for the current leftist president and Workers’ Party (PT) candidate, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The margin was just over 2.2 million votes, and the first polls for the runoff on Oct. 25 indicate a virtual tie. In a race like this, factors that would be marginal in a lopsided election become decisive. One of them comes from Washington and was little known in Brazil until September 2026, on the eve of the first round: Rockbridge Network.
