In a stunning political comeback, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been elected president of Brazil, according to official results from Sunday’s runoff election, with more than 96% of the votes counted.

NPR reports that Lula secured more than 51% of the vote, defeating Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, who received more than 48%.

The result marks a historic moment in Brazil’s democratic era. Since democracy was restored in 1989, no candidate who failed to win the first round of voting has gone on to win the presidency in the second round.

The victory also adds another chapter to Lula’s long political career, securing him a fourth, nonconsecutive presidential term.

Lula, who turns 81 on Tuesday, will be among the oldest sitting leaders in the Americas, alongside President Trump and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, both 80.

In a speech to ecstatic supporters in São Paulo, Lula said the election was a “defeat of denialism. A defeat of lies.”

“I want to thank the Brazilian people for this generosity they have shown me for so long, to thank the youth who took to the streets to defend democracy, and the elders who went to vote,” Lula told the crowd.

Lula’s victory bucks a broader rightward shift across Latin America in recent years. In a pointed message to Trump, Lula declared that Brazil would not accept being “anyone’s backyard.”

Election day unfolded chaotically. Around midday, according to NPR, Lula’s campaign requested an extension of voting hours, arguing that some local governments had reduced bus services, making it harder for voters to reach polling stations.

Bolsonaro also sought an extension, citing heavy rain in some states.

Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin extended voting by two hours, to 7 p.m., but some polling stations had already deactivated their electronic voting machines and could not resume voting.

Speaking briefly to journalists outside his home in Brasilia, Bolsonaro called the result “inexplicable” and said he would seek to annul the vote. “I will not give up on my Brazil, and I hope you won’t give up either,” he said.

Bolsonaro, 45, had campaigned on closer ties with President Trump and pledged to pardon his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for plotting a coup to overturn his 2022 election defeat to Lula.

Brazilians showed little enthusiasm for street campaigning in the early months. But Bolsonaro’s first-round finish on Oct. 4 energized the contest, and in recent days supporters of both candidates have filled rallies and flooded social media in an effort to sway voters.

In the end, Lula’s message of continuity and a focus on social spending prevailed.

“I think people woke up about the risk of a Bolsonaro government after the first round, and the mobilization made a difference,” said Alessandra Miguel, a 35-year-old spa worker who voted for Lula in Rocinha, a favela in Rio de Janeiro.