BRASILIA: Right-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro heads to an Oct 25 runoff election from a position of strength, riding a conservative wave that has left president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva facing a tough battle to win a fourth term.
In a surprise result that defied opinion polls, Bolsonaro won 56 million votes, finishing two percentage points ahead of the veteran leftist Lula and outperforming the first-round election results of his father, the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.
The 45-year-old Bolsonaro, who was little known until a few months ago, pitched himself as more "moderate" than his firebrand father, who is still revered among many on the right and whose legacy loomed large over the campaign.
