Lula nominated for fourth term as president of Brazil

São Paulo – August 2, 2026: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wants to govern Brazil for a fourth, non-consecutive term. The Workers’ Party, PT, nominated the 80-year-old president on Sunday at its party convention in São Paulo for the presidential election on October 4. Lula said he was in fully sound health and ready for the campaign. For the former metalworker and trade unionist, it is his seventh bid for the country’s highest office.

The nomination ends a months-long period during which Lula had repeatedly announced his intention to run again, while his party’s formal decision was still pending. According to his personal plans, it is to be his final candidacy. Geraldo Alckmin is again expected to be the candidate for vice president. The 73-year-old, a former governor of the state of São Paulo and now minister of industry, was already Lula’s running mate in 2022. At the time, the alliance opened the PT to parts of the political center and broadened its base beyond the left-wing camp.

Lula first governed Brazil from 2003 to 2010 and returned to the presidential palace after his 2022 election victory. The constitution allows two consecutive terms; his previous mandates therefore do not prevent him from running again. The PT founder has shaped Brazilian politics since the 1980s and, despite his age, remains his party’s central leading figure.

The leading candidate of the right-wing camp is Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who has been nominated by the Liberal Party. The 45-year-old is a son of former President Jair Bolsonaro and is expected to unite his father’s supporters behind him. His father cannot run himself. He was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for his role in an attempted coup after the 2022 election.

The party conventions fall within a legally defined phase of the election calendar. Under the rules of the Superior Electoral Court, parties and alliances can select their candidates from July 20 to August 5. Subsequent registration with the electoral justice system is separate from this. The nominations of Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro therefore do not yet constitute final judicial approval of their candidacies.

On October 4, Brazilians will elect governors, senators and deputies in addition to the president. If no candidate wins an absolute majority of valid votes in the first round, a runoff will be held on October 25. With its convention decision, the PT is once again sending the politician who has defined it for decades into an election campaign that will again be shaped by the contrast between Lula and the Bolsonaro camp.