Jair Bolsonaro is the first sitting president in Brazil to lose re-election.

Jair Bolsonaro lost the presidential runoff election to Lulu on Monday, becoming the first president to be voted out of office since the 1990s. Because Bolsonaro was defeated at the polls, the electorate re-elected all previous presidents who sought a second term.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso won a second four-year term in 1998, Lula in 2006, and Dilma Rousseff in 2014. Electoral officials declared Lula’s victory, with 51 percent of the vote to Jair Bolsonaro’s 49 percent.

Jair Bolsonaro, the hardline far-right leader known as the “Trump of the Tropics,” stormed to victory four years ago and was widely popular. Still, the vitriolic leader came under fire for his disastrous handling of the Covid pandemic, which killed more than 680,000 people in Brazil.

Brazil has experienced a weak economy, attacks on democratic institutions, and the worst deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in 15 years under Jair Bolsonaro. Many fear that Jair Bolsonaro, like his political role model, former US President Donald Trump, will refuse to accept defeat in the elections.

As a result of the election results, Lula will face significant challenges from the moment he takes office.