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AP photo/Bruna Brado
Brazil’s left-wing former president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula, narrowly won a tightly contested presidential election tonight with a margin of just under 2%.
With 50% of precincts reporting, Bolsonaro clung to a narrow 0.5% lead, but the general trend over the course of the evening was a slow and steady upswing for Lula, as votes trickled in from the northeast. Just before 7pm, with 72% of precincts reporting, Lula took his first lead of the night, and continued to expand his lead.
It was also going to be difficult for Bolsonaro in the second round, as Lula won the first round by 5 points, 48% to 43%, nearly winning outright on October 2. Bolsonaro also faced an uhpill battle in the sense that both third place Simone Tebet and fourth place Ciro Gomes backed Lula in the second round.