Evangelicals favor Bolsonaro in polls over Lula as Brazil heads to runoff

This Sunday's general elections in Brazil confirmed a scenario of marked polarization, as reported by Diario Cristiano Internacional, forcing a second round of voting to decide the presidency.

With 100% of polling stations counted, conservative candidate Flávio Bolsonaro led with 47.03% of the valid votes, compared to 45.16% for current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva**, The Rio Times reported. Bolsonaro, 45, received about 56.1 million votes to Lula's 53.9 million, according to Latin America Reports. It was Lula's first first-round defeat since 1998, per AS/COA.

Given that no candidate exceeded the 50% majority threshold, the Superior Electoral Court confirmed the runoff scheduled for Oct. 25.

The day passed normally throughout the national territory, concentrating all civic attention on the two leading forces, while the remaining candidates combined for about 8% of the vote, according to AS/COA.

Mixed reactions and a complex political landscape

After the official counts, President Lula acknowledged that the final results were unforeseen**, having believed he was headed for a first-round win, AS/COA reported**.

Despite the narrow adverse margin, the president declared to his supporters that "no one but us can offer Brazilian society a future," anticipating a highly contested campaign.

For his part, the senator and candidate of the Liberal Party celebrated the support of more than 56 million voters at the polls and proclaimed before his bases "the end of the era of the Workers' Party."

Political analysts also pointed out that the ruling party faces a complex task to reverse the trend, since the first-round winner has never lost a Brazilian presidential runoff, AP reported, though never before has the second-place finisher been this close. Al Jazeera noted that no second-place finisher has won since 1989, and that final polls had Lula ahead.

Michelle Bolsonaro's Senate victory and the weight of the electorate of faith

At the parliamentary level, former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, a prominent evangelical figure, won a seat as senator-elect for the Federal District, alongside Bia Kicis, who won the district's other seat, per Latin America Reports. The conservative leader widely led the legislative votes in the capital with 28.95% of the preferences. Her win came despite a public rupture with her stepson Flávio, which CNN said complicated his outreach to conservative women. She resigned June 30 as head of the PL's women's wing after a dispute over a Senate slate in Ceará, The Rio Times reported.

Evangelical voters favored Flávio Bolsonaro over Lula 47% to 27% in Datafolha's latest pre-election poll, while Lula led among Catholics 45% to 33%, CNN reported.

Although the ruling party tried to approach the congregations by stating that "they always respected and recognized the importance and role of the Evangelical Church," Evangelical voters leaned toward Bolsonaro in pre-election polling.

This article was originally published at CP Español